20250504 - Duolingo replaces contractors with AI, courses with slop

"AI-first means customers last" Text version: https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/05/04/duolingo-replaces-its-contractors-with-ai-courses-with-slop/ Sources: "Below is an all-hands email from our CEO, Luis von Ahn – we are going to be AI-first." https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7322560534824865792/ Game of Tongues: How Duolingo Built A $700 Million Business With Its Addictive Language Learning App https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2019/07/16/game-of-tongues-how-duolingo-built-a-700-million-business-with-its-addictive-language-learning-app/ Shareholder letter Q3 2023 (PDF) https://investors.duolingo.com/static-files/033ccf0a-f5ea-4897-ba7a-00b00bb48a2d Latest tech layoffs: Twitch, Duolingo, Citrix parent ditch hundreds of workers (2024) https://www.theregister.com/2024/01/11/twitch_employee_layoff/ Duolingo More Than Doubles Courses as 'AI-First' Push Draws Heat https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-30/duolingo-more-than-doubles-courses-as-ai-first-push-draws-heat Previously on Pivot to AI: AI coding tools 'fix' bugs by adding bugs https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/03/19/ai-coding-tools-fix-bugs-by-adding-bugs/ video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnzkgDt-d3o&list=UU9rJrMVgcXTfa8xuMnbhAEA Generative AI: 'no significant impact on earnings or recorded hours in any occupation' https://pivot-to-ai.com/2025/04/29/generative-ai-no-significant-impact-on-earnings-or-recorded-hours-in-any-occupation/ video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiJ7X8Bu9wk&list=UU9rJrMVgcXTfa8xuMnbhAEA&index=1 Buy me nice things: https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/3Q8VZW46J6DM6 Get an extremely cool Pivot to AI shirt: https://pivot-to-ai.redbubble.com Please send money! It's very helpful! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/davidgerard Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/A1529D5