To create its lessons, Duolingo is increasingly using generative AI, which would explain why it is separating 10% of its subcontractor and service provider workforce. Other announcements could follow.
After rumors in December which spoke of a wave of layoffs due to artificial intelligence at Duolingo, the official announcement came on Monday January 8. The company at the head of the foreign language learning application will separate 10% of its subcontractors and service providers, reports Bloomberg, without detailing the figures. And if the use of AI would partly explain this news, the spokesperson for the company, founded in 2011, wanted to reassure: no full-time employee would be affected. And the subcontractors were not dismissed: their contract ended as planned at the end of 2023, without a new one being concluded for 2024, the company spokesperson explained to our colleagues.
According to the latter, around 10% of subcontractors and service providers of the learning platform were “ unloaded “. The reason : ” We simply don't need as many people to do the type of work that some of these contractors and subcontractors were doing. Part of this phenomenon could be attributed to AI “, he added cautiously. However, this is not a “ direct replacement » of employees by AI, the spokesperson wanted to clarify to our colleagues. Many employees already use this technology in their work, the manager continued. Duolingo had 600 full-time employees at the end of 2022, according to our colleagues.
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Lessons designed much faster with AI, to the detriment of workers?
The use of AI within this application which allows you to learn foreign languages is not surprising. Duolingo has been relying on machine learning since October 2020. Its “Birdbrain” program makes it possible in particular to adjust the difficulty of the exercises according to the level of the users. But until June 2023, “ every exercise chosen by Birdbrain was written, reviewed, edited and translated by human experts », Specified the application, in a blog article.
Since last summer, things have changed. AI would now be used to create these exercises from A to Z. This technology makes it possible to “ generate vast quantities of content for our lessons with the click of a (single) button », enthused the authors of the blog article. The argument was taken up by CEO Luis von Ahn in a letter to shareholders dated last November. The latter welcomed the use, within the company, of AI, presented as a tool that significantly accelerates content production.
Concretely, generative AI would be used to create learning scripts and generate voices. Last June, Duolingo assured that the AI system would still need human supervision. But the announcement at the start of the year suggests that it could be otherwise. With AI, will society need as many workers as before?
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Source :
Bloomberg