Duolingo recently announced a strategic shift in their operations, as the leading language learning platform downsized approximately 10% of its contract workforce. The move signifies a greater focus on incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their services. The layoffs, which occurred at the end of 2023, followed Duolingo’s efforts to explore alternative roles for affected workers, with the decision to let them go being the last resort. Importantly, these changes did not impact any full-time employees within the company.
Duolingo has been actively embracing AI technologies, boasting an impressive user base of 24.2 million daily active users and 5.8 million paid subscribers across over 100 courses. In March, the company introduced Duolingo Max, a subscription tier that incorporates OpenAI’s GPT-4 language model. This addition brought about AI-powered features such as interactive conversations with chatbots and AI-generated explanations for both correct and incorrect answers.
Luis von Ahn, the CEO of Duolingo, has frequently emphasized the role of generative AI in accelerating content creation. In a shareholder letter from November, he highlighted the company’s strategy to leverage AI in various aspects of content creation, including sentence generation, translation lists, and error report corrections. It is worth noting that Duolingo’s reliance on AI does not replace human oversight; rather, it serves as a tool to enhance productivity, efficiency, and the rapid development of content while still valuing human expertise in language education and course improvement.
The downsizing at Duolingo is in line with a larger industry trend where companies increasingly deploy AI to optimize their processes. A November report indicated that 37% of surveyed companies reported AI replacing workers in 2023, with an anticipated 44% expecting AI-related layoffs in 2024. This shift toward AI-driven efficiency is evident in other tech firms, including Chegg and Dropbox, which have also cited AI as a factor in their workforce reductions.
Acknowledging the potential impact of AI on employment, industry leaders like IBM CEO Arvind Krishna have mentioned temporary hiring pauses for roles susceptible to AI displacement. However, they express their belief that, in the long run, AI is expected to create more jobs than it eliminates.
In summary, Duolingo’s recent downsizing reflects their commitment to integrating AI for enhanced content creation, while recognizing and valuing the ongoing importance of human expertise in language education. As the company continues to revolutionize the language learning landscape, users can expect a blend of AI-driven tools and the human touch that makes Duolingo a trusted platform for language acquisition.
