Duolingo has declared that it will gradually replace contract workers with AI. In an all-hands email sent by its co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn, the company explained that it will need to reconsider how it operates and that minor changes to systems designed for humans would not be effective in achieving the company’s goals to quickly produce content for learners.
The email, which was shared on Duolingo’s LinkedIn account, highlighted the constructive constraints that will guide the company’s shift to an AI-focused approach. This includes a gradual stop in hiring contract workers to do “work that AI can handle”. The company will also make AI use part of what it looks for during the hiring process, and evaluate AI use in performance reviews. In addition to this, Duolingo will only allocate headcount if a team is unable to automate more of their work.
According to von Ahn, the reason for the pivot to AI is because a slow, manual process does not scale well when the company needs to create a massive amount of content for its users. He also added that replacing the previous method with an AI-powered process was one of the best decisions made and compared the AI-focused approach to Duolingo’s move to prioritise mobile apps in 2012.
The CEO assured that despite the shift to being “AI-first”, Duolingo will remain as a company that cares deeply about its employees and that the move isn’t about “replacing Duos with AI”, but rather allowing the workers to focus on creative work and real problems rather than repetitive tasks. The email also promises more training, mentorship, and tooling for AI as a way to support the company’s human workforce. Whether or not the shift to AI will prove to be a positive one remains to be seen, but von Ahn seems certain that this is a step in the right direction for Duolingo.
(Source: Duolingo / LinkedIn)
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