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Duolingo has faced a wave of criticism after adopting an "AI-first" strategy. Photo: Duolingo . |
Luis von Ahn, CEO of language learning platform Duolingo, recently faced backlash after announcing the company would adopt an “AI-first” strategy.
He admitted that he "didn't expect such a backlash." Many social media users misunderstood, thinking that Duolingo had fired all its employees and replaced them with AI.
In an interview with the Financial Times , Mr. von Ahn explained that the outrage stemmed from a general concern about technology taking away jobs, and admitted that he “should have been more clear to the public” about the strategy.
He later clarified that only “a very small number of employees doing repetitive hourly work that the company no longer needs” would be affected, and many of them could be offered other contract jobs.
Internally, the reaction from employees has been relatively subdued, reflecting Duolingo’s long-standing commitment to technology leadership. Their primary concerns are focused on how AI is applied to Duolingo.
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CEO Luis von Ahn had to apologize after his "misleading statement". Photo: Financial Times. |
The company continues to hire for positions that can’t be automated, and notably, half of its new hires are college graduates who have already been exposed to AI during their education.
Duolingo’s “AI-first” strategy focuses on streamlining workflows, von Ahn explained. He himself applies AI to tasks like Excel calculations, and encourages employees to explore how AI can assist or take over their jobs. The ultimate goal is to automate repetitive tasks, freeing up employees for more creative or strategic work.
This shift has already made a noticeable difference in areas like programming and design. Specifically, engineers will use AI to assist with coding, allowing them to spend 10% of their time learning and developing.
Similarly, designers will gradually shift to a supervisory role, while AI takes over the creation of Duolingo’s signature style. Von Ahn believes this type of supervision will become common in most jobs in the future.
AI also plays a big role in Duolingo's expansion plans. Von Ahn explained that the current limit of teaching only 40 languages is due to the sheer volume of work. However, with the help of AI, Duolingo expects to be able to "multiply the number of languages many times over."
Regarding ethical concerns around AI, especially copyright infringement, von Ahn admitted that this is “a real concern.” He emphasized that Duolingo is “ensuring that the entire model is trained using only the company’s own illustrations.”
Following a backlash from users, von Ahn posted an apology on LinkedIn for the lack of clarity in his announcement. He acknowledged that AI would “fundamentally change the way we work” and that “AI is creating uncertainty for all of us, and we can respond to that with fear or curiosity.”
Source: https://znews.vn/ceo-cu-xanh-gap-rac-roi-khi-chon-con-duong-ai-post1559518.html
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