Duolingo has reportedly let go of approximately 10 percent of its contractors,Sister Emanuelle the educational app company opting to do their work using generative AI instead. This does not bode well.
A Duolingo spokesperson confirmed the job cuts to Bloomberg on Monday, though they stated that no full-time employees were impacted.
"We just no longer need as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing," the spokesperson said. "Part of that could be attributed to AI."
Duolingo further stressed to PC Mag Australia that "these are not layoffs," stating that contractors had simply been "offboarded" after finishing their projects at the end of 2023. Reports of Duolingo's job reductions first arose late last December, when a person claiming to work at the company stated that it had cut a significant number of its contracted translators in favour of AI.
"I worked there for five years," they wrote on the r/Duolingo subreddit. "Our team had four core members and two of us got the boot. The two who remained will just review AI content to make sure it’s acceptable."
Mashable has reached out to Duolingo for comment.
Regardless of the exact terminology used for the cuts, the Duolingo's latest move appears ominous to anyone who's anxious about AI taking their jobs.
Duolingo has already used machine learning for years, having introduced its AI model Birdbrain in 2020 to adjust the difficulty of exercises based on users' strengths and weaknesses. However, up until 2023, "every single exercise chosen by Birdbrain was written, reviewed, edited, and translated by human experts."
This all changed last June, when Duolingo announced it had begun using Language Learning Model (LLM) AI in order to create entire exercises from prompts.
"With a powerful Large Language Model in the hands of Duolingo’s teaching experts, we can generate vast amounts of content for our lessons with the click of a button," the company said in a blog post at the time. "Like any innovative tool, with a good operator, it can bring our in-house teachers convenience, speed, and productivity."
Though Duolingo focused on how AI would allow it to grow smaller courses and noted that the LLM would still need human oversight, these recent job cuts indicate that it may not need quite as many humans as before.
Last March the company also unveiled Duolingo Max, a premium subscription tier for their language learning app that features new tools powered by OpenAI's GPT-4. It currently only supports French and Spanish for English speakers on iOS, however Duolingo does plan to expand to more courses and platforms.
Topics Apps & Software Artificial Intelligence
'Thunderbolts*' mid
Finally, some good airline news: The FCC won't let people talk on cellphones during flights
Back from the sea, Joe Belfiore is ready to help Microsoft win
Why it's totally possible this group of hackers is the CIA
The State of 5G: When It's Coming, How Fast It Will Be & The Sci
A meadow of Lego daffodils has sprouted in the center of a city and it's delightful
George R.R. Martin is just tryin' to hang with the cool kids
The 'Thor: Ragnarok' trailer just broke a huge Disney record
Best smartwatch deal: Save 44% on CMF Watch Pro for $38.90 at Amazon
Stop it with all the random 'National Day' hashtags already
Tennessee vs. Kentucky 2025 livestream: How to watch March Madness for free
Crowdsourced coral: Scientists get creative in order to find reef 'hope spots'
StubHub finally gets social
No, Chelsea Handler doesn't want Trump on Season 2 of her show
CPU Price Watch: 9900K Incoming, Ryzen Cuts
YouTube's biggest star is trying out Twitch
People have some pretty savage things to say about Louis Vuitton's new collection
This may be one of the fastest goals ever scored in a football match
The fat bears are already extremely fat
Some 'Overwatch' features disabled as 'Uprising' launch causes issues
New friends Drake and Millie Bobby Brown do their best Eleven posesFrigid blast to shatter low temperature records from Maine to VirginiaBill Gates pledges $100 million to innovative Alzheimer's researchLouis C.K. allegedly abused women while preaching progressive idealsNo one asked for it, but Salted Caramel Pepsi is hereThe 'Stranger Things' memes that will make you say 'whoa''Stranger Things' nail art is here and weird and we love itLouis C.K. responds to sexual misconduct allegations: 'These stories are true'No, this isn't a real conversation between Bill Clinton and Tony BlairAxiem Systems' "Notch Remover" app removes the 'notch' from iPhone XBill Gates pledges $100 million to innovative Alzheimer's researchVideo of live TV interview shows the moment a powerful earthquake hit IraqNetflix cancels Louis C.K. special due to sexual misconduct allegationsThe grassroots group that wants to ban plastic straws in Cornwall10 times typos almost ruined your lifeY'all, NYC has a realGoogle, National Geographic team up on meditation app for veterans'Wonder Woman 2' release date moves up 6 weeksNo, this isn't a real conversation between Bill Clinton and Tony BlairGoogle releases its year Intolerant India Psychocandy I Milo Nesbitt Who Profits? Machines Against the Rage Inside Russia’s War on Dissent Robert Moses is Dead Last Man Standing The Gospel of Organizing He, Robot Palais Intrigue Back to the Wall Beautiful Lies Steering the Fed Speaking of Memory End of the World-Building The Art of Propaganda Death by Video We Got a Great Big Convoy The Prosecutor’s Presidency The Almighty Gun
1.3006s , 10133.4921875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Sister Emanuelle】,Unobstructed Information Network