Duolingo CEO Believes AI Can Teach Anything, Humans Needed Only for Childcare

We live dominated more and more by Artificial Intelligence (AI), where advanced systems are revolutionising the way we work, learn, and live. From servicing customers to generating content and data analysis, AI is assuming tasks previously believed to require specifically human intelligence. While the technology opens up astonishing possibilities, it also raises challenging questions on the future of work and human roles in critical services.

Last year, Klarna, the Swedish FinTech behemoth, caused a stir when it substantially cut jobs and resorted to AI-based solutions. The company is now hiring back with flexible models such as remote jobs and part-time jobs. The step points toward an emerging trend: AI is not only augmenting human labour, but largely substituting it.

In this shifting landscape, Duolingo CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn has added his voice to the conversation, sparking debate with his bold views on the role of AI in education. In a podcast interview, von Ahn stated that AI can effectively replace human teachers in most subjects. “Ultimately, I’m not sure that there’s anything computers can’t really teach you,” he said. He continued by describing how AI can personalise learning, and therefore make it much more scalable than classroom teaching.

In the view of von Ahn, Duolingo's vast data on users, gathered from more than 116 million learners across the globe, has allowed the platform to make learning more personal than teachers can. The app is even able to forecast how well a student will do on a test before taking it. Such adaptability, he contends, is one of the biggest strengths of AI in learning.

But von Ahn explained that although AI would be doing most of the teaching, there will still be a need for human presence in schools for other purposes. "That doesn't mean the teachers are going to go away," he explained. "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." When asked if schools would ultimately more resemble childcare centers with students learning through apps such as Duolingo, von Ahn said, "I think it's going to be something like that."

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