Duolingo’s CEO, Luis von Ahn, has recently faced criticism after revealing the company’s shift towards becoming ‘AI first’, a move that will involve replacing some contractor roles.
While artificial intelligence is not a new concept, its increasing capabilities have prompted several companies to integrate it into their operations.
Duolingo, a well-known language-learning platform, has joined the list of companies embracing AI to enhance its offerings. For those unfamiliar with Duolingo, the platform is renowned for its quirky marketing approach and has gained significant popularity on social media.
However, the announcement regarding AI integration has not been well-received by everyone. The company shared its vision for an ‘AI-first’ future in a statement on LinkedIn.
In the announcement, Duolingo detailed plans to implement ‘constructive constraints’, which include revising how it collaborates with contractors and incorporating AI in hiring and performance evaluations. The company also mentioned that “headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work” (via The Verge).
“Being AI-first means we will need to rethink how much we work. Making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won’t get us there,” the statement reads.
The company clarified that the focus is not on replacing employees, but on ‘removing bottlenecks’, allowing staff to concentrate on creative tasks and significant challenges, rather than monotonous duties.
They further assured in their post: “What doesn’t change: We will remain a company that cares deeply about its employees.”
The entire email can be accessed here:
In response, critics have expressed their dissatisfaction. One person commented: “Duolingo, what a depressing post. Nice touch burying human acknowledgment to the bottom. High praise for effectively forgetting that language connects humans.
“Great job kneeling at the altar of AI.”
Another individual remarked: “I know many companies are taking this stance. I trusted Duolingo would be better and more people-focused than this.
“No matter how you try to spin it, ‘headcount will only be given if we can’t automate more of our work’ and ‘caring deeply about our people’ don’t mesh.
“You’re either about optimizing for extreme efficiency or about people.”
A third individual added: “The quality for lessons outside of the major players (Spanish, French, etc.) was already lackluster and lacked quality explanations. I don’t want content generated by AI that may be incorrect on top of that. And I support employees over AI, always.”
Another comment reads: “AI-first” actually means you do NOT care deeply about your employees. If you did, you wouldn’t replace them with robots that will make the platform worse.”
The idea of AI replacing human roles in the workplace has been forecasted for some time, although Bill Gates asserts that there are three professions it cannot supplant.