Categories: GENERAL

Duolingo turns to AI to generate content, cuts 10 percent of its contractors

Duolingo özgü reportedly let go of approximately 10 percent of its contractors, the educational app company opting to do their work using generative AI instead. This does not bode well.

A Duolingo spokesperson confirmed the job cuts to Bloomberg on Monday, though they stated that no full-time employees were impacted. 

“We just no longer need as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing,” the spokesperson said. “Part of that could be attributed to AI.”

Duolingo further stressed to PC Mag Australia that “these are not layoffs,” stating that contractors had simply been “offboarded” after finishing their projects at the end of 2023. Reports of Duolingo’s job reductions first arose late last December, when a person claiming to work at the company stated that it had cut a significant number of its contracted translators in favour of AI.

“I worked there for five years,” they wrote on the r/Duolingo subreddit. “Our team had four core members and two of us got the boot. The two who remained will just review AI content to make sure it’s acceptable.”

Mashable özgü reached out to Duolingo for comment.

Regardless of the exact terminology used for the cuts, the Duolingo’s latest move appears ominous to anyone who’s anxious about AI taking their jobs.

Duolingo özgü already used machine learning for years, having introduced its AI model Birdbrain in 2020 to adjust the difficulty of exercises based on users’ strengths and weaknesses. However, up until 2023, “every single exercise chosen by Birdbrain was written, reviewed, edited, and translated by human experts.” 

This all changed last June, when Duolingo announced it had begun using Language Learning Model (LLM) AI in order to create entire exercises from prompts. 

“With a powerful Large Language Model in the hands of Duolingo’s teaching experts, we can generate vast amounts of content for our lessons with the click of a button,” the company said in a blog post at the time. “Like any innovative tool, with a good operator, it can bring our in-house teachers convenience, speed, and productivity.”

Though Duolingo focused on how AI would allow it to grow smaller courses and noted that the LLM would still need human oversight, these recent job cuts indicate that it may not need quite as many humans as before. 

Last March the company also unveiled Duolingo Max, a premium subscription tier for their language learning app that features new tools powered by OpenAI‘s GPT-4. It currently only supports French and Spanish for English speakers on iOS, however Duolingo does plan to expand to more courses and platforms.

admin

Recent Posts

Muşamba Nedir, Ne Anlama Gelir? İle İlgili Yararlı Bilgiler

Muşamba Nedir, Ne Anlama Gelir? 03 Ekim 2024 Perşembe 22:40 ABONE OL Muşamba, su geçirmezlik…

2 ay ago

Yıl İle İlgili Yararlı Bilgiler

Yıl 30 Ekim 2008 Perşembe 20:43 ABONE OL Yıl Nedir?Dünyanın, güneş çevresinde tam bir dolanım…

2 ay ago

Gebelik Izlemi tedavi yöntemleri, nedenleri, tanısı

Gebelik Izlemi GEBELİK İZLEMİ Gebelik izlemi, gebeliğin planlanmasıyla başlayan, sağlıklı sürdürülmesini ve sorunsuz bir doğumu…

3 ay ago

Menopoz tedavi yöntemleri, nedenleri, tanısı

Menopoz MENOPOZ Menopoz, ovaryan aktivitenin (üreme ve östrojen yapımı) yitimi ertesinde, menstrüasyonun kalıcı olarak kesildiği…

3 ay ago

Birçok Kadın Endometriyal Kanserin Önemli Uyarı İşaretini Bilmiyor

Yeni bir araştırmaya göre, çok sayıda kadın, kadın üreme organlarının en yaygın kanseri olan endometriyal…

3 ay ago

Çok mu Oturuyorsunuz? Egzersiz Sağlığınıza Verdiğiniz Zararları Telafi Edebilir

Her gün sekiz saat veya daha fazla oturan kişilerin, her hafta 140 dakikadan az orta/yoğun…

3 ay ago