☮ ♥ ♬ 🧑💻<p>“Judging by recent controversy around the gamified <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/language" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>language</span></a>-learning app he co-founded, it is not just <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/AI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AI</span></a> that can misjudge communication. Last month, <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/vonAhn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>vonAhn</span></a> shared on LinkedIn an email he had sent to all staff announcing Duolingo was going “<a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/AIFirst" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>AIFirst</span></a>”. “I did not expect the amount of blowback,” he admits.</p><p>“Unbelievable,” wrote one LinkedIn commenter, “Cancelling my account NOW.” “Well, there goes my 1,098 day streak,” posted another.</p><p>The chief executive says many social media users mischaracterised the changes as though “<a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Duolingo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Duolingo</span></a> has no employees, we have fired everyone and everything is being controlled by a massive AI”.</p><p>He attributes this anger to a general “<a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/anxiety" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>anxiety</span></a>” about <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/technology" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>technology</span></a> replacing jobs. “I should have been more clear to the external world,” he reflects on a video call from his office in Pittsburgh. “Every <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/tech" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>tech</span></a> company is doing similar things [but] we were open about it.”</p><p>A CEO who expresses *surprise* at a call for “AI-first” in a consumer application is an incompetent TechWeenie. </p><p><a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/LuisVonAhn" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>LuisVonAhn</span></a> / <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/WhiteCollar" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>WhiteCollar</span></a> / <a href="https://ioc.exchange/tags/Techweenie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Techweenie</span></a> <<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6fbafbb6-bafe-484c-9af9-f0ffb589b447" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">ft.com/content/6fbafbb6-bafe-4</span><span class="invisible">84c-9af9-f0ffb589b447</span></a>> (paywall) / <<a href="https://archive.md/juvfL" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">archive.md/juvfL</span><span class="invisible"></span></a>></p>