US-based language learning company Duolingo has laid off 10% of its contract translators, as it turns to generative AI for creating content on the platform.
This move comes months after the CEO Luis Von Ahn, announced that the company is relying more on generative AI to develop its content.
In a letter to shareholders in November 2023, Von stated that the company would be using generative AI technology to speed up the creation of text, speech, and images.
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In his words,
“AI accelerates our mission to make high-quality education available to everyone in the world. The things that we can do now with the power of OpenAI’s technology are going to shape the future of education”.
Speaking on the recent layoff at the company, a spokesperson said,
“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,”
The spokesperson added that the job reduction isn’t a straight replacement of workers with AI, as many of its full-time employees and contractors use the technology in their work.
Duolingo had 600 full-time workers at the end of 2022, according to company filings. The spokesperson added that no full-time employees were affected by the cutback.
Also speaking on the layoff at the company, Duolingo’s global head of communications, Sam Dalsimer was quoted saying,
“There is some merit to the idea that AI is contributing to the reduction of our contract workforce, but it would be an oversimplification to say this is the sole reason. We use AI for a variety of different functions and tasks,”
Dalsimer mentioned that contract and staff employees are still closely involved in reviewing AI outputs for accuracy.
These tasks include generating sentences and acceptable translations. In addition, he stated that the company tried to find alternate roles for the contractors affected by the changes.
According to Dalsimer, AI was not intended to replace jobs, instead, it would save translators time and allow them to concentrate on more difficult tasks.
The job cuts at Duolingo reinforce concerns that have been raised by employee groups and unions that businesses may begin significant adoption of AI to replace workers.
A report by the World Economic Forum predicts that AI will cause significant disruption in the labor market within the next five years, although the overall impact may be positive as employers seek workers with more technical skills to navigate AI technology, per the report.
Duolingo is far from the first company to make job cuts while adopting the use of AI, as reports reveal that 1 in 4 companies have already replaced workers with AI-driven technology.