Duolingo CEO clarifies the company’s AI-first approach statement following backlash.
Duolingo CEO Luis Von Ahn is facing severe backlash online, largely due to his statement about using AI instead of a workforce for Duolingo.
The CEO of the popular app has said that utilising AI will be beneficial for the language learning platform in the long run. However, he soon received severe criticism for his statement.
Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn had sent a memo to employees in April. In the note, he had detailed the company’s “AI-first” approach and added that the language learning app will stop using contractors and replace them with AI.”
“He further added that the change will take place gradually, and by using AI, it will be able to double its course offerings.”
The news went viral, and soon Luis von Ahn garnered fierce criticism. The Duolingo employees, contract workers and netizens criticised the CEO for his series of bold proclamations on AI replacing humans.
Soon, the company’s popular TikTok and Instagram accounts had user-bashing AI with memes and more.
The criticism was so strong that Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn finally took to social media to clarify his comments. Von Ahn soon took a 180-degree turnaround from his earlier statement.
Luis von Ahn wrote, “One of the most important things leaders can do is provide clarity. When I released my AI memo a few weeks ago, I didn’t do that well.”
He added that Duolingo has always embraced new tech, and they are doing the same with AI now.
However, he further added that he has not seen AI as replacing what the employees do. They will continue to hire as earlier and also train people in the art of using the new tech to accelerate the learning apps’ progress.
Von Ahn also admitted that while some resistance was expected, the intensity of the backlash caught him off guard.
This is not the first time Von Ahn has thrown his weight behind AI. In a podcast, he had predicted that AI can easily teach any subject better than human teachers.
Besides Luis von Ahn of Duolingo, the Fintech app Klarna also took a turnaround on its earlier statement of praising its AI chatbot.
But later retracted the same by adding that due to the “lower quality” of the chatbot, they would soon start hiring humans once again.
The same criticism was faced by Shopify for their memo that said that AI-driven productivity would replace new hires.
Technology is advancing at a fast pace, and AI is also on the rise. There is not only immense excitement about AI, but a cloud of fear about what the future could hold is very much prevalent.
Famous figures such as Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have been sharing warnings regarding the popularity of AI. Elon Musk is already using it.
Fiverr’s CEO, Micha Kaufman, had also shared an internal email about AI. He had written that AI is coming for all, be it a programmer, designer, product manager, data scientist, lawyer, customer support rep, salesperson, or more.
However, though Artificial Intelligence was welcomed by managers and CEO’s of many high-end companies, only to realise that their high expectations are far from reality. They still had to rely on human resources.
However, if the AI is utilised well with human resources in harmony, then there is no stopping the progress.
