The Blubber

Language-learning app Duolingo has been going all-in on AI. Known for its green owl mascot, the company made headlines last year when it temporarily replaced its CEO with an AI avatar during an earnings call. Even more controversially, just last month, it announced that it would permanently replace its contract workers with AI.

Now, Duolingo’s ambitions are expanding. With a user base of 116 million people each month, the platform has accumulated a massive amount of data on how people learn — from the strategies that keep users motivated over time to the ability to predict a learner’s test score before they even take it. According to Duolingo founder and CEO Luis von Ahn, AI’s potential to personalize education will eventually make it the dominant force in teaching.

“Ultimately, I’m not sure that there’s anything computers can’t really teach you,” von Ahn said in a recent episode of the No Priors podcast.

He predicted a fundamental transformation in education, saying that “it’s just a lot more scalable to teach with AI than with teachers.”

“That doesn’t mean the teachers are going to go away,” he added. “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.”

Podcast host Sarah Guo asked for clarification: “In your view, schools could be childcare but everybody’s Duolingo-ing?”

“I think it’s going to be something like that,” von Ahn responded.

Von Ahn acknowledged that Duolingo’s quiz-based, drill-driven model doesn’t suit every subject. He suggested, for example, that history might be better taught through “well-produced videos” — something AI hasn’t yet mastered. But he emphasized that when it comes to scale, AI has the clear advantage.

“If it’s one teacher and like 30 students, each teacher cannot give individualized attention to each student,” he said. “But the computer can. And really, the computer can actually … have very precise knowledge about what you, what this one student is good at and bad at.”

This sentiment echoes what Duolingo’s CFO said last year: “AI helps us replicate what a good teacher does”—such as helping students learn content, stay engaged, and identify weaknesses and knowledge gaps.

Thanks to years of user data, Duolingo has effectively run 16,000 A/B tests over its lifetime, von Ahn said. That allows the app to optimize when it sends reminders, and to fine-tune exercises so that they’re challenging enough to feel rewarding without discouraging the learner.

Some schools are already leaning into this AI-first future. Newsweek recently spotlighted Alpha School, a private K-12 network where students learn just two hours a day with the help of AI. At Alpha, educators—called “guides”—don’t create lesson plans, lecture, or grade. Instead, they focus on motivation and emotional support. According to Newsweek, Alpha charges $40,000 to $65,000 in annual tuition and currently operates four campuses, with eight more on the way.