ChatGPT summary:

Duolingo, once widely praised, is now under fire after CEO Luis von Ahn announced a shift toward an "AI-first" strategy. This includes phasing out human contractors, using AI in hiring and performance reviews, and restricting new hires unless automation isn't feasible. The announcement sparked a strong negative response online, especially on TikTok and Instagram, prompting the company to temporarily remove all social media posts.

The backlash is more intense than prior criticism over layoffs and AI integration in late 2023. Users flooded comment sections with complaints about the replacement of humans with AI, emphasizing the importance of human connection in language learning.

In response, Duolingo posted cryptic and satirical videos featuring a masked "rebel" confronting von Ahn. While von Ahn defended the use of AI to scale content creation and improve efficiency, he admitted the LinkedIn announcement was poorly communicated. He emphasized AI as a tool to support—not replace—employees and claimed the company is still hiring.

Von Ahn later reiterated on LinkedIn that Duolingo aims to empower its workforce through AI education and resources, without addressing the fate of contractors. The controversy highlights growing public skepticism toward AI-driven policies, which often appeal more to executives and investors than to everyday users and workers.

What about non-private ones, aka publically readable?

Wow, is that in the US? I have a 15 page plan for $1.89 (Canadian) per month that I'm ok with. I'm not sure how they make money on it honestly as I get new ink carts shipped to me at least yearly.

Counterpoint: Leah Remini has proven, fortunately, otherwise.

Fascinating idea. But you gotta love the Prop 65 warning at the bottom. Geez, those things pop up on everything, don't they?

This. I have an anecdote too. We had a Shopify account for a while that we were toying with for maybe about a year. There was nothing particularly wrong with it, but we decided to go in another direction and cancel it.

So we logged in and.... cancelled it. Just like that. They then stopped billing us. Boring story, I know, but I don't see a villain in that particular company.

This particular engine did, in fact finish its testing. Before July! Great job!

I'm of the mind that if someone wants to do something dumb like drain a lake maybe they can start the experiment with Tahoe and see how that goes (probably not all that well). It is not a fix for needing sustainability.

There’s a use case, and would like to offer a counterpoint to much of what I read above. I like the convenience of having a printer at home, but I do not print a lot. But when I want a photo I don’t want to have to go to a store or order online. I also print some things where I want to file a hard copy. Used to own a Canon Pixma printer which seemed to drain all its ink in cleaning cycles, and spent maybe some $80 in cartridges per year for barely any printing.

The 15 page/mo plan (where an additional 15 pages carry over if unused) suits me fine, and after tax I pay a whopping $1.42 per month. And my ink is delivered, plus they take the old ones back for recycling too. The irony was that I was on a more expensive plan and their price change promoted me to reevaluate my usage and downgrade, paying them less than before!

If you print a lot, sure there are other options so ymmv but I read a lot of the comments above and think to myself nobody forced you to sign up. It is fine as long as you know what you’re signing up for.

Fair points. Interesting. I'm used to clearing my plate, so if I can't finish I feel like I'm wasting food.

You're absolutely right. Different norms.

There's something to this. Portions. I've always been baffled a bit traveling to the US, and whether it's at restaurants or at the grocery store, portions of things always seem to be larger. A LOT larger. Take for example something as benign as a "single-serve yogurt".

Canada? That'll be 100 grams.

Same brand, USA, 150 grams.

These sorts of things trick people into thinking that the larger portions are normal.

See this is interesting to me, the way different cultures commemorate that day. Conversely, those that follow the Eastern Byzantine practices actually semi-fast. Primarily it’s the avoidance of meat and milk consumption until Easter Sunday. So you tend to have Seafood that weekend instead.

Though my instinct is to agree with your point, I see it a little bit differently. Practically speaking it's becoming pretty niche to need modern support for such an ancient processor, and likely a waste of resources to continue to maintain.

If it were important enough to somebody, they're always welcome to go create a fork and continue with it that way.

Yeah, I've got one of these (was supplied by my employer). The Pencil is useful for whiteboarding, sure, but I hate both modes of charging. It really feels like design went out the window when they were making these:

Take the cap off and plug its male end into the Lightning connector on the iPad. Now the thing is sticking out perpendicular to the iPad and feels like the two have taken over my entire desk's width, and feels really, really fragile. Like if I accidentally pick up one or the other the wrong way it'll snap the connector right off. Or...

Use the female/female connector to plug into whatever charger. It works, but it means at all times I need to track these two little 1cm bits of pencil cap to make sure I don't lose them.

It works, fair enough, but it feels like a design fail.