YouTube is expanding its new “similarity detection” technology, which identifies AI-generated content such as deepfakes, to people in the entertainment industry, the company. was announced on Tuesday.
The technology works similarly to YouTube’s existing one Content ID systemwhich detects copyrighted material in user-uploaded videos, allowing rights holders to request a takedown or share the video’s revenue.
Similarity detection does the same, but for simulated faces. The feature is intended to help protect creators and other public figures from having their identities used without their permission – a common problem for celebrities who find their likenesses have been used in fraudulent ads.
The technology was first made available to a subset of YouTube creators in a pilot program last year before being expanded more broadly to include politicians, government officials and journalists this spring.
Now YouTube says the technology is available to those in the entertainment industry, including talent agencies, management companies and the celebrities they represent. The company has support from major agencies such as CAA, UTA, WME and Untitled Management, who have offered feedback on the new tool.
Using the similarity detector does not require entertainers to have their own YouTube channels.
Instead, the feature scans for AI-generated content to detect visual matches of a registered participant’s face. Users can then choose to request the removal of the video privacy policy violations, submit a copyright takedown request or do nothing. YouTube notes that it will not remove all content, as it allows parody and satire content under its rules.
In the future, the technology will also support audio, the company says.
Relatedly, YouTube has also argued for similar protection at the federal level, with its support for NO PLASTIC Law in Washington, DC This will regulate the use of artificial intelligence to create unauthorized recreations of a person’s voice and visual likeness.
The company has not yet said how many AI deepfakes removals have been managed by the tool so far, but noted in March that the number of removals was still “very small”.
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