Duolingo will gradually stop using contractors to do work that artificial intelligence (AI) can perform, Luis von Ahn, CEO of the language learning platform, said in an email. The company shared the email’s screenshot on LinkedIn and said that Duolingo is now going to be “AI-first”. Similarly, the CEO of Shopify also said, in an internal memo, that teams must first show that AI cannot perform the particular task before hiring new employees.
Duolingo’s “Constructive Constraints”:
According to the email, the company will be rolling out some “constructive constraints” that will enable its shift to being “AI-first.” Von Ahn said: “We’ll gradually stop using contractors to do work that Al can handle.” He also remarked that AI use will be part of what Duolingo looks for in hiring and what it evaluates in performance reviews. “Headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work,” Von Ahn’s email stated. He added that most functions will have specific initiatives to essentially change how they work.
In the email, Von Ahn also pointed out that AI is not just a “productivity boost” for the company, and that it helps in building features like video calls. Without AI, the Duolingo CEO believes that it would take the company “decades to scale” its content. “Being AI-first means we will need to rethink much of how we work. Making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won’t get us there. In many cases, we’ll need to start from scratch. We’re not going to rebuild everything overnight, and some things, like getting Al to understand our codebase, will take time. However, we can’t wait until the technology is 100% perfect,” Von Ahn said.
Duolingo’s announcement does not come as a surprise, as several companies have been moving in the same direction. In this context, a recent Forbes report said: “Estimates suggest that up to 60% of current jobs will require significant adaptation due to AI. Automation and intelligent systems will become an integral part of the workplace.”
Why it matters?
This is not the first time a company has announced that it will not hire people for tasks that AI can perform.
Recently, Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify, in an internal memo that he posted on X (formerly Twitter), asked the teams to explain why AI cannot perform a particular task for which it is hiring a new employee. The memo said: “Before asking for more headcount and resources, teams must demonstrate why they cannot get what they want done using Al. What would this area look like if autonomous Al agents were already part of the team? This question can lead to really fun discussions and projects.”
Earlier this month, Zomato laid off about 500 employees who were part of its Zomato Associate Accelerator Program (ZAAP) in Gurugram and Hyderabad, according to a report. Interestingly, the move came in the wake of the company launching its AI-powered customer support platform called Nugget that handles 80% of inquiries without human involvement.
According to a 2023 Goldman Sachs report, generative AI could “expose” about 300 million full-time jobs to automation. “The boost to global labour productivity could also be economically significant, and we estimate that AI could eventually increase annual global GDP by 7%,” the report added.
This portends a trend in the job market where companies could eventually reduce hiring drives and rely more on AI for different tasks in pursuit of cost cutting. It also prompts people in this market to start upskilling to improve their chances of landing their desired job.
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