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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →In a September 2024 Forbes interview, Duolingo founder and CEO Luis von Ahn predicted that AI-driven changes to work could be especially difficult for poor and less-educated people, including people in poorer countries. His comments were a forecast, not a measured estimate of jobs AI will eliminate.
What did Luis von Ahn say about AI and jobs?
Speaking with Forbes at Duo’s Taqueria in Pittsburgh, von Ahn said, “It’s a tough situation that’ll affect the poor, the less educated.” He added, “And not just in the U.S., but in poor countries.” He argued that governments would need smart regulation to make AI equitable, while expressing skepticism that the United States would legislate effectively. Those are his views about possible impacts and policy—not an enacted proposal or a quantified forecast.
The interview does not identify a date by which jobs might disappear, estimate how many people could lose work, or give an occupation-by-occupation forecast. It therefore cannot answer “Will AI take my job?” for an individual worker, or establish a current total of AI-caused job losses. [Forbes interview, September 24, 2024]
What happened to Duolingo’s contractors?
The concrete employment example was Duolingo’s decision not to renew contracts for about 10% of its contracted workforce, according to Forbes. The affected contractors worked on translations and lesson writing, and Duolingo used AI for some of those tasks. This was a reported share of the contractor workforce—not a claim that the company laid off 10% of its full-time employees. [Forbes, September 24, 2024; Futurism, September 26, 2024]
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Von Ahn described the tasks this way: “A full time employee’s job is very hard to automate. But we had some hourly contractors who were doing pretty rote stuff.” That is his assessment of the work in this example; it does not prove that full-time work is generally safe from automation or that every repetitive task will be replaced.
Duolingo had also said in its Q3 2023 shareholder letter that “Generative AI is accelerating our work by helping us create new content dramatically faster.” The company described AI-generated scripts for a new lesson format and Duolingo Max as an experimental product. This is evidence of the company’s stated use and aims, not an independent measure of employment effects. [Duolingo Q3 2023 shareholder letter]
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Who might be most exposed—and what remains unknown?
Von Ahn’s concern focused on people with fewer economic resources and less education, including workers in poorer countries. The interview does not provide data showing how often those groups lose work, compare their risk with other groups, or distinguish which occupations might be affected. His warning should be read as a concern about unequal consequences, not a verified ranking of who will lose jobs.
For a personal-finance reader, the practical distinction is between a risk to particular tasks and a conclusion about a whole job. The Duolingo example involved translation and lesson-writing tasks the company characterized as rote; it does not establish that AI will replace all translators, educators, or other workers doing similar work. The interview offers no reliable number for future unemployment caused by AI.
Could AI tutoring help even if it displaces tutors?
Von Ahn argued that AI could make one-on-one instruction available to more people, while acknowledging a possible cost to human tutors: “It may put one-on-one human tutors out of business. I understand that. But I think net-net it is better if everybody has access to one.” Forbes described Duolingo’s ambition to build an automated AI tutor and a then-announced video-call feature with a Duolingo character. Those product details reflect the September 2024 report and do not establish current availability or pricing.
Elizabeth Birr Moje, dean of the University of Michigan’s Marsal Family School of Education, pointed to a different kind of value in human instruction: “It cannot see if a student is experiencing frustration. It cannot see body language. It cannot see joy.” The interview does not present a controlled comparison of AI and human tutoring outcomes. It supports a narrower contrast: AI may expand access, while a human tutor can notice cues the AI may miss. [Forbes interview, September 24, 2024]
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can workers and policymakers take from the warning?
Von Ahn’s comments point to a distribution question: if AI makes some work faster or less necessary, who receives the gains and who bears the cost? His interview raises that issue but does not evaluate specific remedies or show which would work best.
- For employers: Choices include automating tasks, moving workers into different roles, or supporting retraining. The interview does not assess Duolingo’s outcomes for affected contractors or compare these approaches.
- For policymakers: Von Ahn called for smart regulation to make AI equitable. His remarks are an argument for action, not evidence of a settled policy consensus.
- For workers: Training may help people adapt, but the interview does not show that any course or credential guarantees continued employment. Von Ahn has argued that learning English can broaden earning potential; that is his view, not a job guarantee.
For personal financial planning, this story is a reason to think about how dependent income is on tasks that an employer could automate, and what options might be available if work changes. It is not a basis for assuming that a specific occupation will disappear or that a particular training choice will prevent displacement.
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