Duolingo Workers Face A New Gen AI Reality At Work. Is Your Job Next?

Reference: Visit website

Most of us get the same basic questions in our employee performance reviews, even if we work totally different jobs: What did you accomplish in the last year? What are your opportunities for improvement? But here's one you might not have seen before: How did you use generative AI at work?

Something like that question might be on the next performance reviews for at least one employer. In a memo posted online after it leaked and was reported on by CNBC and others, Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke said using AI in the workplace is no longer optional at the e-commerce software firm, which employed about 8,100 people at the end of 2024.

⁘Using AI effectively is now a fundamental expectation of everyone at Shopify,⁘ Lutke wrote in the memo.⁘

⁘Being AI-first means we will need to rethink much of how we work,⁘ von Ahn wrote. ⁘Making minor tweaks to systems designed for humans won't get us there.⁘

Lutke's memo emphasized the importance of Shopify's employees tinkering with AI and spelled out certain requirements, including sharing what they've learned about using AI tools. He also said teams would need to demonstrate why AI can't meet needs before asking for more resources or to hire new employees.

Similar requirements appeared in von Ahn's memo to Duolingo workers. Still, he said, the change ⁘isn't about replacing Duos with AI⁘ but about providing workers with the tools to do more creative work. A Duolingo spokesperson said the company has not changed its full-time employee headcount based on the move.⁘

These memos show one potential impact of gen AI on the availability of jobs: Companies will be less willing to hire if that work can be done by AI instead.

That fear is widely shared, with more Americans worried than hopeful about AI's impact on jobs , according to a separate Pew survey released in February that focused on Americans' thoughts on AI at work.⁘

Despite the widespread fears, Nicole Sahin, CEO and founder of G-P, a firm that provides global employment services, told me she still sees companies hiring workers in line with what would be expected in a growing labor market.⁘