♬ 
“Judging by recent controversy around the gamified #language-learning app he co-founded, it is not just #AI that can misjudge communication. Last month, #vonAhn shared on LinkedIn an email he had sent to all staff announcing Duolingo was going “#AIFirst”. “I did not expect the amount of blowback,” he admits.
“Unbelievable,” wrote one LinkedIn commenter, “Cancelling my account NOW.” “Well, there goes my 1,098 day streak,” posted another.
The chief executive says many social media users mischaracterised the changes as though “#Duolingo has no employees, we have fired everyone and everything is being controlled by a massive AI”.
He attributes this anger to a general “#anxiety” about #technology replacing jobs. “I should have been more clear to the external world,” he reflects on a video call from his office in Pittsburgh. “Every #tech company is doing similar things [but] we were open about it.”
A CEO who expresses *surprise* at a call for “AI-first” in a consumer application is an incompetent TechWeenie.
#LuisVonAhn / #WhiteCollar / #Techweenie <https://www.ft.com/content/6fbafbb6-bafe-484c-9af9-f0ffb589b447> (paywall) / <https://archive.md/juvfL>
