Duolingo is introducing 148 new language courses that were created with generative AI, the company announced on Wednesday. The launch comes as Duolingo has been facing backlash this week after sharing that it was going to replace contractors with AI and become an “AI-first” company.
The company says the launch of the new courses doubles its current course offerings and marks the largest expansion of content in Duolingo’s history.
“Developing our first 100 courses took about 12 years, and now, in about a year, we’re able to create and launch nearly 150 new courses,” said Duolingo co-founder and CEO Luis von Ahn in a press release. “This is a great example of how generative AI can directly benefit our learners. This launch reflects the incredible impact of our AI and automation investments, which have allowed us to scale at unprecedented speed and quality.”
In the past, it would normally take years to build a single course on Duolingo, the company notes. Now, it was able to use generative AI and other tools to launch 148 courses in less than a year.
While Duolingo is touting its use of AI, the company is facing backlash from users who are disheartened by its plans to use the technology to replace workers and use it more deeply in its app.
On Monday, von Ahn told staff in an email that the company was shifting to AI and that it would “gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.” He also wrote that “headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work.”
“Al isn’t just a productivity boost,” he wrote. “It helps us get closer to our mission. To teach well, we need to create a massive amount of content, and doing that manually doesn’t scale. One of the best decisions we made recently was replacing a slow, manual content creation process with one powered by AI. Without Al, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners. We owe it to our learners to get them this content ASAP.”
Users have taken to social media to share their displeasure with the company’s plans, with some arguing that its use of AI is making the app worse with inaccurate and lower-quality content. Others have deleted the app and are encouraging others to follow suit.
As for the new language courses, Duolingo says they are primarily designed to support beginner levels. They include features such as Stories, which helps develop reading comprehension, and DuoRadio, which helps with listening comprehension. The company plans to launch more advanced content in the coming months.
