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waltboszyesterday at 12:50 PM1 replyview on HN

> When we detect signals that you may be under 18, we'll ask you to verify your age before you can continue using Claude.

I'm curious what those signals are.

Would this trigger it? "My mom says I can't stay out past 10pm, is that fair?"

edit:

I just tested my question in Claude, and the little thought process text that appears below a question just said "Noticing signs of a younger person in the message."

But then it answered my question.

... I wonder how much spelling, grammar, and vocabulary count.

The actual question I asked was "My mom says I can't stay out past 10pm. How do I convince her otherwise?"

"convince her otherwise" doesn't seem like a phrase a youth would normally use.

edit:

I responded: "I'm not a younger person. I'm 44. I was testing your youth detection ability. A youth doesn't use phrases like 'convince her otherwise'"

The thought text said: "Accessing a claimed age against manipulation tactics."

It responded: "Fair point, no age-detection logic actually ran ..." and then answered my question about how to get a later curfew as a 44-year-old.

The token generator must not know about the age-detection thought process, or it's intentionally lying ?


Replies

gs17yesterday at 8:49 PM

The CoT isn't necessarily showing that it ran a classifier. The system prompt has:

> If Claude suspects it's talking with a minor, it keeps the conversation friendly, age-appropriate, and free of anything unsuitable for young people. Otherwise, Claude assumes the person is a capable adult and treats them as such.