Duolingo lays off 10% of contract workers, partly due to AI

[midian182]

A hot potato: Despite the recent reports that generative AI will create as many jobs as it kills off, or it will augment most positions rather than replace them, there are still plenty of incidents where the technology is putting humans out of work. The latest of these involves language-learning software maker Duolingo, which has laid off 10% of its contractors as a result of AI.

A Duolingo spokesperson said about 10% of its contractors were "offboarded." As reported by Bloomberg, they explained, "We just no longer need as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing. Part of that could be attributed to AI."

Chief Executive Officer Luis von Ahn praised the benefits of generative AI in a letter to shareholders late last year, noting that it allowed the company to produce new content, such as scripts for shows that help teach languages, much faster.

Duolingo also uses AI-generated voices in its app, as well as AI features for customers. The company's $30 per month Duolingo Max plan that launched in 2023 comes with access to a pair of GPT-4-powered features: one for explaining why the answer to a question is right or wrong; the other that lets users practice their language skills in multiple scenarios, with no two conversations being exactly the same.

The spokesperson said that the cuts aren't a case of AI being a "straight replacement" for the workers and that no full-time employees have been affected by the reductions. They added that many Duolingo staff and contractors use AI as part of their jobs.

Duolingo is obviously trying to play down AI's role in the job cuts, but it isn't the first company to remove human workers in favor of the technology. A Chinese firm said it would replace all its external copywriters and graphic designers with generative AI models last year. IBM said it intended to stop hiring for jobs that could be performed by generative artificial intelligence (but not programmers, apparently). And a CEO in India replaced 90% of his support staff with a chatbot.

A study in March found that generative AIs could impact 300 million jobs worldwide, and it is expected to replace over 2 million jobs in the US by 2030. Some executives are so worried about its impact that they are turning to drink and drugs.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/101455-duolingo-lays-off-10-contract-workers-company-puts.html

 

[ScottSoapbox]

You don’t lay off contract workers.
You just don’t renew the contract.

That’s what being a contract worker means: you aren’t a full employee.

 

[Carlos GarPov]

AI madness!

 

[wiyosaya]

Good luck with that Duolingo!

 

[Shaitan]

Good luck with that Duolingo!

Quitting any idea to pay for the app considering this d!ck move.
This means you'd just increase your profits but pay fewer people.
These companies will learn only if the backlash is severe enough.

 

[yRaz]

You don’t lay off contract workers.
You just don’t renew the contract.

That’s what being a contract worker means: you aren’t a full employee.

You lay off contract workers if you lay them off before their contract is over

 

[Uncle Al]

Of course they didn't mention that they just created a new batch of AI hackers that will do any and everything to destroy it ...... hey, that's a win/win isn't it? LOL

 

[Thrackerzod]

Ever since Duolingo went public they've been going down the drain. All they care about is profits.

 

[EnTaroTzula]

Ever since Duolingo went public they've been going down the drain. All they care about is profits.

thats how capitalism works unfortunately

 

[EnTaroTzula]

I dont agree with those projections posted in the article that lets us know the percentage of job loss due to AI, since I work in the AI sector I can tell you that it's going to be 30% sooner than you anticipate, companies are beyond scratching the surface, we know of corporations that are already on the AI writing our Code bandwagon, developers need to start transitioning to AI language model experts to keep up its getting rough out there

 

[ScottSoapbox]

You lay off contract workers if you lay them off before their contract is over

Then Duolingo would need a better legal team after creating such a poor contract for their client. But I doubt that is the case.

 

[yRaz]

Then Duolingo would need a better legal team after creating such a poor contract for their client. But I doubt that is the case.

Most of those contracts have an "at will employement" clause with the understanding that the contractor can leave without consequence so long as they can be laid off without consequence. Usually they just have to allow them 3 to 6 months of unemployment benefits and the company doesn't even pay for those, the state does.