Duolingo is introducing 148 new language courses created with generator AI, the company announced Wednesday. The launch comes as Duolingo faces a backlash this week after sharing that it will replace contractors with AI and become an “AI-First” company.
The company says the launch of a new course doubles the current course offering, marking the largest content expansion in Duolingo's history.
“It took about 12 years to develop the first 100 courses, but now we can create and launch nearly 150 new courses in about a year,” said Luis von Ahn, co-founder and CEO of Duolingo in a press release. “This is a great example of how generative AI can directly benefit learners. This launch reflects the incredible impact of AI and automation investments, allowing us to scale with unprecedented speed and quality.”
While Duolingo is promoting the use of AI, the company faces backlash from users who are disappointed by plans to use technology to replace workers and use it more deeply in their app.
On Monday, Huang told staff via email that the company is moving to AI and “slowly stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.” He also wrote, “People are given only if the team cannot automate more work.”
“Al is more than just an increase in productivity,” he wrote. “It helps us get closer to our mission. To teach well, we need to create a huge amount of content and do it manually. One of the best decisions these days was to slowly replace the manual content creation process with AI.
Users have joined social media to share their complaints about the company's plans, and some argue that AI uses are aggravating the app with inaccurate and low-quality content. Others have deleted the app and encourage others to follow suits.
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As for the new language courses, Duolingo says they are primarily designed to support beginner levels. These include features such as stories that help you develop your reading comprehension, as well as Duradio, which helps you understand listening. The company plans to release more advanced content in the coming months.