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In a new statement, Duolingo CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn has said that the company will ‘gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.’
One of the world’s biggest language learning apps is looking to shake up how its business fundamentally operates, with a greater emphasis on AI.
Duolingo is an extremely popular service that sends daily alerts to users to practice and revise their knowledge on a specific language. The company has been praised over the past few years for its innovative and slightly unhinged marketing campaigns via TikTok and Instagram.
Now, in a new statement released by company co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn via LinkedIn, Duolingo says it will be restructuring and ‘rethinking much of how [it] works.’
This will include replacing contract workers with AI tools and shifting to a more automated workflow model.
‘Betting on mobile made all the difference,’ Luis von Ahn said. ‘We’re making a similar call now, and this time the platform shift is AI.’
This implementation of AI will include the overseeing of administrative tasks such as hiring and performance reviews, with an intention of ‘removing bottlenecks’ for human workers.
Duolingo claims its goal will be to use AI in repetitive and monotonous areas of the business, giving employees more room to ‘focus on creative work and real problems.’
This means that the company will no longer use contract workers for tasks it believes AI can sufficiently tackle.
However, despite the shift in direction, the company seems eager to stress that jobs will not be lost, at least for now. ‘Duolingo will remain a company that cares deeply about its employees,’ the statement reads.
‘We’re going to support you with more training, mentorship, and tooling for AI in your function.’
