AI-first: did Duolingo make a fatal mistake? | by Daley Wilhelm

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The “AI-first” approach has caused controversy among users.

The green Duolingo owl sits among flames in a parody of the “this is fine” meme. — Image from the Duolingo widget when your streak (represented by flames) is in danger of being broken. Image from — https://www.psychologs.com/how-duolingo-used-psychology-to-make-learning-addictive/

Usually, articles about Duolingo are highly complimentary. User experience pros admire Duolingo for creating a well-designed, habit-forming app that continually grabs attention and improves upon its overall experience. Language learners love the app and brag about their streaks, charmed by the antics of the quirky green owl mascot, Duo.

But something has changed.

Last week, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn made an announcement via an internal email: “Duolingo is going to be AI-first.”

But this doesn’t effect the user experience of the product… does it?

Duo sits upon the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. — Image from when Duolingo added a “High Valyrian” language course based on Game of Thrones. Image from — https://blog.duolingo.com/high-valyrian-course-updates/

Before digging into the backlash, what exactly does it mean to be “AI-first?” In the aforementioned email, von Ahn wrote that this “means we will have to rethink much of how we work” and outlined what that looks like in five bullet points: