DuoLingo users threaten to leave platform following ‘AI first’ decision

Stephen Price

DuoLingo users across the world have reacted strongly to the language-learning platform’s decision to stop using contractors and move to an ‘AI-first’ model, with many threatening to end their subscriptions.

Sharing the news to their followers on LinkedIn, a spokesperson wrote: “Below is an all-hands email from our CEO, Luis von Ahn – we are going to be AI-first.

“Just like how betting on mobile in 2012 made all the difference, we’re making a similar call now. This time the platform shift is AI.

“What doesn’t change: We will remain a company that cares deeply about its employees.”

Letter

The letter from von Ahn said: “I’ve said this in Q&As and many meetings, but I want to make it official: Duolingo is going to be Al-first. Al is already changing how work gets done. It’s not a question of if or when. It’s happening now.

“When there’s a shift this big, the worst thing you can do is wait. In 2012, we bet on mobile. While others were focused on mobile companion apps for websites, we decided to build mobile-first because we saw it was the future.

“That decision helped us win the 2013 iPhone App of the Year and unlocked the organic word-of-mouth growth that followed.

“Betting on mobile made all the difference. We’re making a similar call now, and this time the platform shift is Al. Al isn’t just a productivity boost. It helps us get closer to our mission. To teach well, we need to create a massive amount of content, and doing that manually doesn’t scale.

“One of the best decisions we made recently was replacing a slow, manual content creation process with one powered by Al. Without Al, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners. We owe it to our learners to get them this content ASAP. Al also helps us build features like Video Call that were impossible to build before. For the first time ever, teaching as well as the best human tutors is within our reach.

“Being Al-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. We’d rather move with urgency and take occasional small hits on quality than move slowly and miss the moment.

“We’ll be rolling out a few constructive constraints to help guide this shift:

• We’ll gradually stop using contractors to do work that Al can handle
• Al use will be part of what we look for in hiring
• Al use will be part of what we evaluate in performance reviews
• Headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work
• Most functions will have specific initiatives to fundamentally change how they work

“All of this said, Duolingo will remain a company that cares deeply about its employees.

“This isn’t about replacing Duos with Al. It’s about removing bottlenecks so we can do more with the outstanding Duos we already have. We want you to focus on creative work and real problems, not repetitive tasks. We’re going to support you with more training, mentorship, and tooling for Al in your function.

“Change can be scary, but I’m confident this will be a great step for Duolingo. It will help us better deliver on our
mission — and for Duos, it means staying ahead of the curve in using this technology to get things done.”

Reaction

Reactions on LinkedIN have been mostly negative, with Computer Scientist, Christina Brien writing simply: “Time to throw away my 1600 day streak.”

Marco Hearden replied to the post, saying: “And tomorrow would have been my Duolingo renewal date. Thanks for posting in time that you take that approach – cancelled membership. If you want to have a look at how it is done right look at Swen Vincke from Larian Studios: Yes to AI, but enabling or freeing Staff to do more important work.”

While Cam Miller shared: “AI-first” actually means you do NOT care deeply about your employees. If you did, you wouldn’t replace them with robots that will make the platform worse.”

Matteo Moroni commented: “Your hypocrisy knows no bounds. I hope more and more people will uninstall your app, which has clearly betrayed its own mission.”

Criticism has also been shared across other platforms, with users on X also sharing their disapproval.

I used Duolingo since 2013, over 10 years, 1613 day streak, I loved it, but I’ve watched as they slowly sacrificed the human aspect of their company. Getting rid of forums where people helped each other was the first blow. The quality has continued to decline. Now AI… goodbye. pic.twitter.com/9YZtaUSFn3

— Caroline (@Pozolegirl) May 2, 2025

While Amy Rapeer wrote: “RIP my 1686 day streak, I’ve uninstalled @duolingo

“I’m not supporting some ‘AI first‘ BS. I’m still crap at Spanish anyway so this is probably the kick I needed to try something better.”

Vascular Spasm also shared their disappointment, saying: “Been using Duolingo since 2019. Uninstalled today. You removed the community notes, and none of my reported errors have ever been fixed.

“Moderate AI made your app worse and now you’re doubling down on it with this “AI First” mantra. Does a human even manage this account anymore?”

Reactions on Reddit have been similarly damning, with NeedzBeerz writing: “AI is no where near being capable of replacing people. This company will either fail or be hiring humans back in 18mo. Dumbest idea ever.

“All they see are short term profit margins but they won’t last when everything starts to break.”

Meanwhile, industry insiders have shared their concern about the impact technological innovations will have on other companies who will also be viewing AI as an opportunity to replace workers with AI.

Writing for Forbes, Jack Kelly shared: “While Duolingo emphasized that no permanent employees were laid off, the move signaled a clear shift toward AI-driven content creation, reducing reliance on human translators.

“Even creative industries, once thought immune to automation, are adopting AI to replace tasks usually performed by contractors.”