Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Education, Technology, Business, Podcast, Social Media
The CEO of Duolingo has sparked controversy by suggesting artificial intelligence is a better teacher than any human being.
With advancements in technology and the rise in AI, there is a mixture of excitement and nerves about what the future could hold.
Many famous figures have spoken about AI; both Stephen Hawking and Bill Gates have shared warnings regarding it, meanwhile, people like Elon Musk are already using it within their businesses.
No matter your opinion on AI, there's no doubt the future of such technology is certainly intriguing.
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Luis von Ahn, Duolingo's CEO, has been speaking about AI in a recent podcast and how it could impact schools and teaching in the coming years.
The CEO said on the No Priors podcast recently: "Ultimately, I’m not sure that there’s anything computers can’t really teach you."
von Ahn said how 'it’s just a lot more scalable to teach with AI than with teachers' - meaning education could be about to see massive changes.
Duolingo's boss added: "By the way, that doesn’t mean the teachers are going to go away, you still need people to take care of the students.
"I also don’t think schools are going to go away, because you still need childcare.
"[If] it’s one teacher and like 30 students, each teacher cannot give individualized attention to each student. But the computer can. And really, the computer can actually … have very precise knowledge about what you, what this one student is good at and bad at."
The comments have been met with a fair bit of criticism online, with the vast majority hitting out at the suggestion.
"These tech guys have a real problem relating to actual humans," one person commented on Reddit.
A second added: "We need more teachers and less CEOs," while a third remarked: "Imagine what all the teachers he has ever had thought when they heard this."
Duolingo is planning on utilising AI itself, having released a statement on LinkedIn laying out its plan to become 'AI-first'.
The company said it would be rolling out a few 'constructive constraints', which includes changing to how it works with contractors, looking for AI use in hiring and in performance reviews, and that 'headcount will only be given if a team cannot automate more of their work' (via The Verge).
"Being AI-first means we will need to rethink how much we work. Making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won’t get us there," the statement added.
After Duolingo removed all social media posts over the weekend, many have speculated the company could be backtracking on its AI plan amid the backlash.
UNILAD has reached out to Duolingo for comment.
