Latest news with #vonAhn
Business Insider
18-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
CEOs are trying to warn you: Use AI or else
The latest corporate mantra: AI or bye-bye. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's warning this week that expanding use of artificial intelligence will mean the company needs fewer people in some roles — and more in others — is the latest sign that, increasingly, CEOs see no place in the corporate world for AI holdouts. While messages that amount to "learn AI or be left behind" might be unnerving, corporate observers told Business Insider that it's ultimately better for cubicle dwellers to hear this message now, rather than when they're sidelined. "If I were an employee, I would be very frustrated with my leader saying, 'No, we're still not sure if this is going to have an impact,'" Christopher Myers, the faculty director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, told BI. Instead, he said, corporate leaders are wise to acknowledge that AI "almost certainly" will rejigger roles and entire org charts. Several other high-wattage CEOs are saying as much. OpenAI's Sam Altman said this month that AI agents were already starting to churn out work comparable to that of junior employees. That followed a warning in late May from Dario Amodei, who runs Anthropic, that AI could eliminate half of entry-level desk jobs within five years. Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who disagreed with Amodei's sobering take, has said AI is likely to change "everyone's" job — as it had already done to his. Managing humans and AI agents Salesforce chief Marc Benioff has also spoken regularly about the changes AI is bringing. He has said the software giant likely won't hire any more engineers in 2025 because AI is supercharging its existing workers. Benioff also said in a February call with investors that he tells fellow chiefs that they're the last generation of leaders to oversee only people. "I think every CEO going forward is going to manage humans and agents together," he said. Yet CEOs' straight talk doesn't always go over well with employees or customers. Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, said in a recent memo to staff that the language-learning company was going to be " AI-first" and that, as such, it would gradually stop turning to contractors when AI could do the job, among other changes. Some Duolingo users said the company was driving out workers in favor of AI. Later, von Ahn wrote on LinkedIn that one of the most important things leaders can do is to provide clarity. "When I released my AI memo a few weeks ago, I didn't do that well," he wrote. In the post, von Ahn added that while he didn't know exactly what would happen with AI, it would "fundamentally change the way we work, and we have to get ahead of it." Some of that change could involve cutting workers. In its annual outlook on the future of jobs, the World Economic Forum said in January that among the more than 1,000 employers it surveyed globally, 41% said they planned to trim their workforce as AI takes on some tasks. Clearing the way Myers, from Johns Hopkins, said Jassy's latest pronouncement on AI's impact could create space for other CEOs to have sometimes difficult discussions about how AI will affect workers. "Having the frank conversation may be better than allowing people to just speculate wildly about whether it will or won't have an impact," he said. Myers said those who think they have AI all figured out are fooling themselves — as are those who think they can ignore it. "Anyone who's putting their head in the sand is missing a very rapidly changing thing," he said. Leading workers through what are likely to be rapid changes is something leaders have to nail, Sarah Franklin, CEO of the HR software company Lattice, told BI. She said those in charge need to make clear that while prior periods of transition didn't occur as fast, it will be possible to get through this one. At times, though, it could be a treacherous passage. Franklin said the structure of some organizations is shifting from a triangle shape — with a plethora of entry-level jobs at the bottom — to more of a diamond, as AI takes on more of the rote work once handled by less-experienced workers. That means the elimination of many starter roles. There could be other challenges, as well. For all the zeal some CEOs have shown for AI's promise of soaring productivity, Melissa Swift, the founder and CEO of consultancy Anthrome Insight, told BI that she often hears from clients that the tech investments they've made aren't paying off. She said one part of the problem is that companies need to orchestrate changes in how humans work, not just invest in shiny new technology. Swift said people often learn by playing with things. So, until more workers dig into AI, it could be hard for some bosses to bring about some of the widespread changes they're hoping for, she said. Another challenge: Changing how organizations work is easier when technology is more or less static, Swift said. Yet AI is clocking massive gains in its abilities every few months. "None of this stuff is mature," she said. "We're doing the world's biggest beta test." Lattice's Franklin said the speed of the technological changes is one reason it's essential that leaders communicate clearly with employees about what's underway — and that workers listen. "Armageddon isn't happening," she said. "But our world is evolving at a very fast pace."
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Duolingo CEO Expresses Astonishment That People Were Mad When He Bragged About Replacing Workers With AI
Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn is having major regrets after widely bragging about replacing human workers with AI. Earlier this year, von Ahn boasted that the language learning app company would "gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle." At the time, the CEO said that "we can't wait until the technology is 100 percent perfect," enthusing that "we'd rather move with urgency and take occasional small hits on quality than move slowly and miss the moment." His enthusiasm for the tech was followed by a massive outpouring of criticism. Furious users on TikTok announced they'd be deleting the app en masse, their multi-year "streak" of daily use be damned. Bafflingly, the simmering anti-AI sentiment apparently caught von Ahn by surprise. "I did not expect the amount of blowback," he admitted in an new interview with the Financial Times, arguing that social media users had mischaracterized the changes as though "Duolingo has no employees, we have fired everyone and everything is being controlled by a massive AI." Of course, if AI were advanced enough to do that, his prior remarks suggest that he absolutely would. Tech companies have embraced AI tech at all costs, driven by massive hype surrounding the tech — and consumers are quickly growing wary and frustrated. The race to replace human workers with tech hasn't sat well with many, establishing an entire anti-AI movement. Consumers have bristled at companies stuffing AI into virtually every aspect of their digital lives. To many, it's a race to the bottom, with AI automation undermining their livelihoods in exchange for dubious advancements in actual technical capabilities. But despite plenty of warning signs, von Ahn, a Silicon Valley mainstay whose net worth is just shy of $2 billion, says he didn't foresee the fallout. Last month, von Ahn went into damage control mode, telling Fortune that "I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do" and walking back his earlier promises of using AI instead of contractors. "I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality," he added at the time. "And the sooner we learn how to use it, and use it responsibly, the better off we will be in the long run." This week, he told the FT that there will be a "very small number of hourly contractors who are doing repetitive tasks that we no longer need." "Many of these people are probably going to be offered contractor jobs for other stuff," he added in an apparent attempt to extinguish the flames. According to von Ahn, AI isn't going anywhere, blowback or not — an unsurprising stance given his immense vested interest. To the CEO, a "Black Mirror"-style dystopia where users get sucked into spending a "significant amount of time socially talking to AI" is "just inevitable," he told the FT. More on Duolingo: Duolingo Announces Plans to Replace as Many Human Workers as Possible With AI
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Duolingo's CEO outlined his plan to become an ‘AI-first' company. He didn't expect the human backlash that followed
On April 28, Duolingo cofounder and CEO Luis von Ahn posted an email on LinkedIn that he had just sent to all employees at his company. In it, he outlined his vision for the language-learning app to become an 'AI-first' organization, including phasing out contractors if AI could do their work, and giving a team the ability to hire a new person only if they were not able to automate their work through AI. The response was swift and scathing. 'This is a disaster. I will cancel my subscription,' wrote one commenter. 'AI first means people last,' wrote another. And a third summed up the general feeling of critics when they wrote: 'I can't support a company that replaces humans with AI.' A week later, von Ahn walked back his initial statements, clarifying that he does not 'see AI replacing what our employees do' but instead views it as a 'tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality.' In a new interview, von Ahn says that he was shocked by the backlash he received. 'I did not expect the amount of blowback,' he recently told the Financial Times. While he says he should have been more clear about his AI goals, he also feels that the negativity stems from a general fear that AI will replace workers. 'Every tech company is doing similar things, [but] we were open about it,' he said. Von Ahn, however, isn't alone. Other CEOs have also been forthright about how their AI aspirations will affect their human workforce. The CEO of Klarna, for example, said in August of last year that the company had cut hundreds of jobs thanks to AI. Last month, he added that the new tech had helped the company shrink its workforce by 40%. Anxiety for workers around the potential that they will be replaced by AI, however, is high. Around 40% of workers familiar with ChatGPT in 2023 were worried that the technology would replace them, according to a Harris poll done on behalf of Fortune. And a Pew study from earlier this year found that around 32% of workers fear AI will lead to fewer opportunities for them. Another 52% were worried about how AI could potentially impact the workplace in the future. The leaders of AI companies themselves aren't necessarily offering words of comfort to these worried workers. The Anthropic CEO, Dario Amodei, told Axios last month that AI could eliminate approximately half of all entry-level jobs within the next five years. He argued that there's no turning back now. 'It sounds crazy, and people just don't believe it,' he said. 'We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming.' This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Workers need a 'mind shift' amid the AI revolution, says Duolingo CEO
Duolingo's CEO says AI won't replace jobs, but will require employees to rethink how they work. Luis von Ahn told the Financial Times hiring remained steady at Duolingo despite its "AI-first" move. He wanted workers to determine if AI can handle routine work so they can focus on more creative tasks. Duolingo's CEO said AI was not causing jobs to disappear at his company — but that workers will need to adapt. Following some negative responses to its recent "AI-first" strategy announcement, Luis von Ahn said some had misunderstood the intent and that Duolingo wasn't replacing its workforce with machines. "Every tech company is doing similar things," but "we were open about it," he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. "I should have been more clear to the external world." In April, Duolingo shared a companywide email on LinkedIn outlining its push toward more AI-driven operations. Some users accused the language-learning app of firing staff en masse. That prompted von Ahn to clarify in a LinkedIn post last month that he did not see AI replacing employees and that Duolingo was "continuing to hire at the same speed as before." He told the FT that some misread the message as, "we have fired everyone and everything is being controlled by a massive AI." While a "very small number of hourly contractors" doing repetitive work will no longer be needed, von Ahn said internal reactions were less dramatic. Employees mainly asked how performance reviews would reflect AI use, he said. Rather than eliminating jobs, von Ahn said the shift was about rethinking how work is done. He is encouraging staff to assess whether their work can be done partly or fully by AI: "It's just a mind shift that people first try AI. It may be that AI doesn't actually solve the problem you're trying to solve — that's fine." Letting AI take over routine tasks will allow employees to focus on more strategic and creative work, von Ahn explained. For engineers, this could mean writing less code and spending more time guiding AI-generated development. Designers, meanwhile, may become like "creative directors," using AI to generate illustrations in Duolingo's signature style. Adding languages to the platform has been labor-intensive, but he believed AI would help speed up this process. Despite the uncertainty, one thing was certain, von Ahn said in a LinkedIn post last month: AI would "fundamentally change the way we work — and we have to get ahead of it." Read the original article on Business Insider
Business Insider
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Workers need a 'mind shift' amid the AI revolution, says Duolingo CEO
Duolingo's CEO said AI was not causing jobs to disappear at his company — but that workers will need to adapt. Following some negative responses to its recent "AI-first" strategy announcement, Luis von Ahn said some had misunderstood the intent and that Duolingo wasn't replacing its workforce with machines. "Every tech company is doing similar things," but "we were open about it," he told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. "I should have been more clear to the external world." In April, Duolingo shared a companywide email on LinkedIn outlining its push toward more AI-driven operations. Some users accused the language-learning app of firing staff en masse. That prompted von Ahn to clarify in a LinkedIn post last month that he did not see AI replacing employees and that Duolingo was "continuing to hire at the same speed as before." He told the FT that some misread the message as, "we have fired everyone and everything is being controlled by a massive AI." While a "very small number of hourly contractors" doing repetitive work will no longer be needed, von Ahn said internal reactions were less dramatic. Employees mainly asked how performance reviews would reflect AI use, he said. Rather than eliminating jobs, von Ahn said the shift was about rethinking how work is done. He is encouraging staff to assess whether their work can be done partly or fully by AI: "It's just a mind shift that people first try AI. It may be that AI doesn't actually solve the problem you're trying to solve — that's fine." Letting AI take over routine tasks will allow employees to focus on more strategic and creative work, von Ahn explained. For engineers, this could mean writing less code and spending more time guiding AI-generated development. Designers, meanwhile, may become like "creative directors," using AI to generate illustrations in Duolingo's signature style. Adding languages to the platform has been labor-intensive, but he believed AI would help speed up this process. Despite the uncertainty, one thing was certain, von Ahn said in a LinkedIn post last month: AI would "fundamentally change the way we work — and we have to get ahead of it."
