Key Takeaways
- AI is making significant inroads into language learning apps and tools.
- Google introduced experimental AI features called Little Language Lessons, using its Gemini model for personalized practice.
- These Google tools help with situational phrases, local slang, and object identification via photos.
- Duolingo is heavily integrating AI, using it to create 148 new courses and reducing its use of human contractors for some tasks.
- Duolingo also intends to use AI for internal processes like hiring.
- Some users have reacted negatively online to Duolingo’s shift towards AI.
- Google emphasizes its AI tools are meant to supplement, not replace, traditional language learning methods.
Artificial intelligence is stepping further into our daily activities, with language learning being a prime example.
This week saw notable moves from both Google and Duolingo in this area. Google unveiled new AI tools powered by its Gemini technology designed to help people learn languages.
Called Little Language Lessons, these experimental features offer interactive ways to practice. According to Mashable, one tool helps learn phrases for specific scenarios, like losing a passport, while another focuses on understanding local slang.
There’s also a feature that uses your phone’s camera to identify objects in photos and tell you their names in the language you’re learning.
Meanwhile, Duolingo is embracing AI technology more fully. The popular language app announced it will use AI for tasks previously handled by human contractors.
Duolingo isn’t stopping there; it plans to use AI in its hiring process and employee performance reviews as well.
Significantly, the company revealed it used AI to generate 148 new language courses, effectively doubling its offerings.
The technology behind tools like Google Gemini has shown a strong ability for translation, and Duolingo clearly sees great potential for it in language education.
However, this shift hasn’t been universally welcomed. Online, particularly on platforms like X, some users expressed dismay, urging others to stop using Duolingo due to its increased reliance on AI.
Critics point out that learning a language is often a deeply social endeavor, aimed at connecting with others, which typically involves human interaction.
Google, for its part, stated that its new AI experiments are not intended to take the place of human teachers or traditional study methods.
A Google blog post clarified that the goal is to complement learning, helping users build habits and fit language practice into their everyday lives.
