Society v. Commonsense

 

Recently, several gaming companies and communication-based companies, such as Discord, have either stated the use of or have already started using Face ID and other AI-based programs to create profiles of their users. They have stated this is to ensure that Children are not using their platforms or that if they are using their platforms, they can move them into contained social interactions to keep them away from possible child predators. While this sounds noble and like it is done with the best interests of the community in mind, it is actually creating a dangerous precedent that will soon lead to a divided community and possibly the setback of multiplayer online gaming to the Stone Age.

With Roblox being one of the most played gaming platforms in the world, it has garnered a lot of bad press due to its lack of security when it came to its younger audience. However, recently, in an attempt to stop this bad press, they have implemented a new AI system that uses Face ID. Face ID's system requires you to take a profile front and profile angled view of your face, and then it determines your age, and using that, it then slots your account into an age group. It is supposed to ultimately separate the younger audiences from the older ones. While in theory this sounds like a good thing, it has already caused issues. Several communities based on role-playing that were created several years ago have seen their older membership get pushed out of chats with their younger members because of the age difference.

Several communities have had to either shut down completely or create a second community site to allow members to speak to one another when it comes to their Role Plays. As time has gone by, platforms like Discord have now come under scrutiny as well from people on their servers and how they are handled. This comes after several cases involving child predators using Discord as a means to reach out to 'targets'. With this being disclosed, there was a call for Discord to also implement the new Face ID system. Which they have supposedly stated they will do.

While I can understand the need for companies that deal with children directly or even indirectly to take precautions to ensure the safety of them, this does not rest just on the companies, and instead also falls to the parents to do their job and do what they can to educate, monitor, and curate what their children are playing and who they are talking to. Sadly, we live in a society that has gone from the times of AOL and YIM, and worried if the person you're talking to is an axe murder and now we have entered the era of Discord and worrying if the person you're talking to likes kids.

In the end, this really does fall more to the parents than the companies, and what sounds good may end up being not so good after all. Currently there are already other companies that are looking at developing their own versions of Roblox and Discord to get the people that will leave Roblox and Discord due to their new policies as they will force out people that don't want to use the Face ID system, as well as those that are not into forcing communities to decide between being only for people of certain age groups or a community that wants to be inclusive and let people decide for themselves what communities they want to be apart of.