Since Human reviewers can no longer work due to the coronavirus pandemic, YouTube will rely more on AI moderation. And that comes with a significant downside.

Tech companies across the world recommend that their employees work from hope to curb the virus spread. Unfortunately, Google could not extend that privilege to human moderators, and here’s why.

Reviewers often work in a tightly controlled corporate environment that’s suitable for their work process. That way, they won’t risk exposing user data or reveal what they see to other third parties.

For this reason, human moderators are not allowed to work from home. And that means Youtube must rely heavily on artificial intelligence to handle the moderation process.

The blog post announcement reads:

“As a result of the new measures we’re taking, we will temporarily start relying more on technology to help with some of the work normally done by reviewers.”

That means automated systems will start removing videos without human review. But there’s a downside.

AI Moderation Could Lead to Vanishing Videos

Of course, AI is far from perfect. YouTube’s statement also warned that creators should expect mistakes on the platform during this period.

According to the streaming giant, more videos may end up being removed from the platform. These include videos that may not have violated any policy.

Also, other content won’t show up or be promoted in Search and Recommendations until they have undergone human review.

YouTube said it won’t issue a strike — which could lead to a ban — except in the content actually violates the platform’s policy.

As usual, creators can appeal that human reviewers reconsider a removed video. However, the review process could take a while due to a reduction in human moderation.

YouTube’s blog post announcement reads:

“We recognize this may be a disruption for users and creators, but know this is the right thing to do for the people who work to keep YouTube safe and for the broader community.”

Twitter said it would rely on similar automation to moderate its platform. However, it would not ban users based solely on automation enforcement. Meanwhile, Facebook drew criticism in the previous week for requiring that moderators continue coming to the work.

Read More: YouTube Creators can now Monetize Coronavirus Content

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