Duolingo launches 148 new courses as it shifts to AI-first, replacing workers with AI
Duolingo has announced a major shift to its bussines model to become an AI-first company, launching 148 new language courses built with generative AI. This marks its largest content expansion to date, doubling the total number of courses in just one year—progress that previously took over a decade.
The new courses target beginner learners and include features like Stories and DuoRadio. With this update, seven major languages—Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin—are now accessible across all 28 supported language interfaces. English speakers gain access to Swedish and Tamil, while broader access is enabled for speakers of European, Asian, and Latin American languages.
This move follows Duolingo’s recently revealed plan, shared via LinkedIn, to shifting away from human contractors, relying on AI for course development with plans to only increase staffing if automation is insufficient. This transition has drawn criticism from users over concerns about content quality, prompting some to delete the app, though the company maintains AI is critical for scaling global language education.
- Language Learning Tool
- Freemium • Proprietary
Related news
External links
- Duolingo's Thread on LinkedINDuolingo on LinkedIN • Official source
- Duolingo Launches 148 New Language CoursesGlobeNewswire News Room • Official source
- Duolingo just added 148 new courses in its biggest update ever - thanks to AIZDNET
- Duolingo will replace contract workers with AIThe Verge
- Duolingo launches 148 courses created with AI after sharing plans to replace contractors with AITechCrunch
- Duolingo doubles its language offerings with AI-built coursesFast Company
Comments
Perfect! Now instead of humans writing strange Duolingo sentences, it's AI writing stranger Duolingo sentences! I wouldn't be surprised if this shift also involved Duo the Duolingo owl becoming more evil in the process.
I always figured Duolingo was unhinged the moment I heard about it, but this is just ridiculous...
I find the strange sentences were actually very helpful because it forces you to understand a language instead if memorizing phrases.
This sounds absolutely horrendous. I know some courses have a bad setup like Japanese but this pseudo AI is just going to be so many times worse. Adding chatbots wasnt a bar idea but if AI is designing the courses so much is just going to be wrong especially in highly contextual languages or ones that do not have direct translations.
I have now deleted the app...
ask to remove your data too
Disgusting is the only word that come to mind
Maybe Duolingo should take a look at some examples like CNET and Sports Illustrated before being so confident about AI infinite power. But hey, after all, some people are paying to talk to AI, so why all Duolingo users won't...