Duolingo, the popular educational app, has recently let go of around 10 percent of its contractors as the company implements generative AI technology to perform their tasks. While Duolingo clarified that no full-time employees were affected, the use of AI instead of human workers does raise concerns.
A Duolingo spokesperson acknowledged the reduction in workforce and attributed it to no longer requiring as many people for the type of work that the contractors were engaged in. The spokesperson emphasized the role of AI in this decision, stating that it played a significant part.
Contrary to reports labeling the job cuts as layoffs, Duolingo clarified that the contractors had simply completed their projects by the end of 2023 and were subsequently “offboarded.” Initially reported in late December, an individual claiming to be an employee of the company mentioned that a significant number of contracted translators were replaced by AI. The remaining members of the team would then oversee the AI-generated content for quality assurance.
Duolingo has been integrating machine learning for several years. In 2020, the company introduced its AI model, Birdbrain, which adjusted exercise difficulty according to user strengths and weaknesses. However, until last June, all exercises were written and reviewed by human experts. Duolingo’s adoption of the Language Learning Model (LLM) AI allowed the creation of entire exercises from prompts. The company cited the convenience, speed, and productivity provided by this AI tool.
Although Duolingo initially highlighted that AI would enable the expansion of smaller courses with human oversight, the recent job cuts indicate a decreased reliance on human labor. Additionally, Duolingo introduced Duolingo Max, a premium subscription tier utilizing OpenAI’s GPT-4, which currently offers support for French and Spanish for English speakers on iOS, with plans for further expansion.
As Duolingo continues to leverage AI technology to streamline its operations, it remains to be seen how this will impact the future of human involvement in the language-learning industry.
The source of the article is from the blog guambia.com.uy