Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, faced heavy criticism after announcing that the company will replace some employees with artificial intelligence tools.
The information was shared by Duolingo in a LinkedIn post. In the announcement, the company revealed its plans to become a platform where “AI comes first.”
Duolingo stated that it would implement changes in how it works with contractors, aiming to use AI in hiring and performance evaluation processes.
The announcement also stated that “headcount will only be disclosed if a team can no longer automate its work.” “We need to rethink how much we work. Making small tweaks to systems designed for humans will get us nowhere,” the statement said.
In the note, von Ahn insisted that it’s not about replacing employees but rather about “removing bottlenecks” so staff can “focus on creative work and real problems, not repetitive tasks,” and that the company “will continue to be one that deeply cares about its people.”
In the comments, the CEO was heavily criticized. “No matter how you try to spin it, ‘headcount will only be defined if we can’t automate more of the work’ and ‘deeply cares about its people’ don’t go together. You’re either optimizing for extreme efficiency or for people,” said one user.
“Duolingo, what a depressing post. Great move, burying human recognition at the bottom. Amazing job forgetting that language connects people. Well done kneeling at the altar of AI,” another LinkedIn user wrote.
Photo and video: Creative Commons. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
