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The Bird That Changed Language Learning Duolingo To Replace Contract Workers With AI

May 08, 2025

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Key Takeaways

  • Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announced the company’s shift to an "AI-first" approach, phasing out contract workers for tasks like content creation, translation, and lesson scripting, which AI can now handle, to scale content production rapidly.

  • The company will gradually eliminate contractor roles, integrate AI into hiring and performance reviews, and only approve new hires if tasks cannot be automated, building on previous AI-driven layoffs of 10% of contractors in 2024

  • While aiming to enhance efficiency and deliver content faster, Duolingo emphasizes supporting full-time employees with AI training and mentorship, claiming the pivot is removing repetitive tasks to focus on creative work. However, concerns remain about job displacement and lesson quality.

Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announced in an all-hands email shared to the company’s LinkedIn profile that Duolingo would now be “AI-first."

The company also said it will only allow new hires if a team can prove that a role cannot be automated. AI use will also be evaluated in the hiring process, as well as the performance reviews of current employees.

Duolingo To Launch 148 New Language Courses Through The Help Of AI

The company also shared the launch of 148 new language courses, which they shared that they completed in just under a year, and was made possible through Duolingo’s adoption of generative AI, shared content systems, and internal tooling.

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Duolingo’s CEO was asked about the impact of AI on humans:

“We're a company that really cares about our employees. I think there was some misunderstanding. I sent an internal email, and what we said is that whenever there is some job that can be done by AI, and it can be done really well, then we're unlikely to hire contractors to do that job.”

While the interview focused on business growth and AI’s role in enhancing Duolingo’s offerings, von Ahn did not directly address the broader societal impact on human workers beyond noting the replacement of contractors.

Duolingo Goes Full AI, And People Are Not Happy

The comment section of Duolingo’s LinkedIn post was filled with disappointment, and people said their ‘streak ended today’ (for context, Duolingo streaks are a gamified feature that tracks the number of consecutive days a user completes a lesson on the app).

“Actually the worst decision you can make for your people and your employees,” one commenter said. “You are telling your people you value ease and less quality over real human beings who need a job to live their lives.”

Other users also resorted to deleting their Duolingo accounts as a form of protest against the company's shift to full AI.

“And today I deleted my Duolingo account and all my data. Hard pass,” another user commented. “How far are you willing to go down this path of an AI-first workplace, eliminating human touchpoints wherever possible? Because if this mentality eventually extends to the customer experience, it might steer you away from a language learning application, and towards an AI-powered translator to make communication more efficient / less reliant on human effort. Game over for human language learning.”

Final Thoughts

This transformation is not only changing Duolingo but also setting a trend across the industry, where technology is redefining the value of human labor in digital education.

Notably, von Ahn joins other CEOs from companies like Uber and Shopify who have doubled down on integrating AI into their workflows despite the public’s mixed feelings towards it.

The success of its AI-driven approach will hinge on whether technology can deliver not just scale but also the depth and authenticity learners expect, setting a precedent for how far artificial intelligence can go in replacing human expertise while creating meaningful and educational outcomes.