A review of age estimation research to evaluate its inclusion in automated child pornography detection

The uses of artificial intelligence (AI) today seem limitless. It has helped organisations understand their customers more, provide them with better, more tailored services, and helped people with disabilities understand the world they previously could not. There are also many areas of current research for the use of AI. Aiding law-enforcement when they must analyse evidence of an indecent nature is one example where the use of AI, if successful, could enhance detection of indecent images and also reduce the workload and stress on the law enforcement staff employed in such activities. Working with indecent images of minors is particularly stressful. This paper reviews the current stage at which artificial intelligence finds itself when estimating a person’s age. By reviewing its accuracy, it is possible to evaluate the feasibility of its inclusion in an artificial-intelligence-aided evidence analysis tool. With artificial intelligence currently capable of estimating a person’s age to within a few years, its incorporation would most certainly allow photographs to be analysed and flagged if anyone is suspected of being underage.