Duolingo adding 148 new courses created with generative artificial intelligence

Duolingo, a popular platform for learning various languages, announced it will be adding 148 new courses to its arsenal on Wednesday.

The new courses were created using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and were announced shortly after the company publicly released an email from CEO Luis von Ahn stating the platform would be shifting to AI.

Though the company has received a backlash over the move, the addition of the new courses will double its content, making it the largest expansion in the history of the platform.

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Language learning platform Duolingo announced the release of 148 courses created with artificial intelligence after previously revealing plans to replace contractors with AI. (Photo Illustration by Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“Developing our first 100 courses took about 12 years, and now, in about a year, we’re able to create and launch nearly 150 new courses. This is a great example of how generative AI can directly benefit our learners,” said von Ahn. “This launch reflects the incredible impact of our AI and automation investments, which have allowed us to scale at unprecedented speed and quality.”

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Luis von Ahn is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Duolingo Inc. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“It used to take a small team years to build a single new course from scratch,” said Jessie Becker, Duolingo’s Senior Director of Learning Design. “Now, by using generative AI to create and validate content, we’re able to focus our expertise where it’s most impactful, ensuring every course meets Duolingo’s rigorous quality standards.”

Von Ahn said in his email that the new shift would “gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.” 

“Al isn’t just a productivity boost,” he wrote. “It helps us get closer to our mission. To teach well, we need to create a massive amount of content, and doing that manually doesn’t scale. One of the best decisions we made recently was replacing a slow, manual content creation process with one powered by AI. Without Al, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners. We owe it to our learners to get them this content ASAP.”

Duolingo said building one new course could take years, but using generative AI allows for “unprecedented speed and quality.” (Getty Images)

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The company said the new courses will primarily support beginner levels and include immersive features such as Stories, to develop reading comprehension, and DuoRadio, to develop listening comprehension. 

More advanced content will roll out in coming months.