Luis Von Ahn

It's just people don't really want to read a quantum physics book. And similarly, most people really probably don't want to go to chat GPT and start asking questions about quantum physics. And it's the same thing for language learning. You know, large language models are very good at getting you to practice, but keeping you engaged is pretty hard.

It's just people don't really want to read a quantum physics book. And similarly, most people really probably don't want to go to chat GPT and start asking questions about quantum physics. And it's the same thing for language learning. You know, large language models are very good at getting you to practice, but keeping you engaged is pretty hard.

It's just people don't really want to read a quantum physics book. And similarly, most people really probably don't want to go to chat GPT and start asking questions about quantum physics. And it's the same thing for language learning. You know, large language models are very good at getting you to practice, but keeping you engaged is pretty hard.

And so, you know, that part, I just don't know if large language models are going to help all that much. And in the end, this is a sad thing, but the reality is, you know, Duolingo is very gamified, and I wholeheartedly believe most people would rather spend more time playing Candy Crush than talking to others. And that's maybe a sad truth. And, you know, there's some exceptions, right?

And so, you know, that part, I just don't know if large language models are going to help all that much. And in the end, this is a sad thing, but the reality is, you know, Duolingo is very gamified, and I wholeheartedly believe most people would rather spend more time playing Candy Crush than talking to others. And that's maybe a sad truth. And, you know, there's some exceptions, right?

And so, you know, that part, I just don't know if large language models are going to help all that much. And in the end, this is a sad thing, but the reality is, you know, Duolingo is very gamified, and I wholeheartedly believe most people would rather spend more time playing Candy Crush than talking to others. And that's maybe a sad truth. And, you know, there's some exceptions, right?

I mean, you love talking to somebody that you're in love with. And sure, that's nice. But the reality is for most of the time, most people would just rather spend time playing Candy Crusher or scrolling on Instagram than talking to others. So all of that, I just don't think large language models are going to help with all that much.

I mean, you love talking to somebody that you're in love with. And sure, that's nice. But the reality is for most of the time, most people would just rather spend time playing Candy Crusher or scrolling on Instagram than talking to others. So all of that, I just don't think large language models are going to help with all that much.

I mean, you love talking to somebody that you're in love with. And sure, that's nice. But the reality is for most of the time, most people would just rather spend time playing Candy Crusher or scrolling on Instagram than talking to others. So all of that, I just don't think large language models are going to help with all that much.

Well, from the beginning, this is a central thesis that we believe here at Duolingo. The hardest thing about learning something by yourself is staying motivated. I mean, that is just it. In fact, that is probably the reason for the vast majority of our success is that we realized that early on. So from the beginning, we have tried to have a thing that is...

Well, from the beginning, this is a central thesis that we believe here at Duolingo. The hardest thing about learning something by yourself is staying motivated. I mean, that is just it. In fact, that is probably the reason for the vast majority of our success is that we realized that early on. So from the beginning, we have tried to have a thing that is...

Well, from the beginning, this is a central thesis that we believe here at Duolingo. The hardest thing about learning something by yourself is staying motivated. I mean, that is just it. In fact, that is probably the reason for the vast majority of our success is that we realized that early on. So from the beginning, we have tried to have a thing that is...

enjoyable to use and that keeps you coming back and we have probably spent more effort on that than anything else uh internally our feeling is like you know learning a language it's a lot like working out in that you know does it matter all that much whether you're doing the elliptical or a peloton or a treadmill like it probably matters but the reality is what matters by far the most is that you're doing it every day whatever the hell you're doing and it's kind of the same with Duolingo like you know we

enjoyable to use and that keeps you coming back and we have probably spent more effort on that than anything else uh internally our feeling is like you know learning a language it's a lot like working out in that you know does it matter all that much whether you're doing the elliptical or a peloton or a treadmill like it probably matters but the reality is what matters by far the most is that you're doing it every day whatever the hell you're doing and it's kind of the same with Duolingo like you know we

enjoyable to use and that keeps you coming back and we have probably spent more effort on that than anything else uh internally our feeling is like you know learning a language it's a lot like working out in that you know does it matter all that much whether you're doing the elliptical or a peloton or a treadmill like it probably matters but the reality is what matters by far the most is that you're doing it every day whatever the hell you're doing and it's kind of the same with Duolingo like you know we

Whether you're doing this method or that method, maybe some methods are more efficient than others, but what matters is that you're doing it every day. And so we got very good at that. Now, once we got very good at that, we started trying to add more sophistication in what we teach, and we've been doing that for the last few years. But always, primarily, we are a motivation engine.

Whether you're doing this method or that method, maybe some methods are more efficient than others, but what matters is that you're doing it every day. And so we got very good at that. Now, once we got very good at that, we started trying to add more sophistication in what we teach, and we've been doing that for the last few years. But always, primarily, we are a motivation engine.

Whether you're doing this method or that method, maybe some methods are more efficient than others, but what matters is that you're doing it every day. And so we got very good at that. Now, once we got very good at that, we started trying to add more sophistication in what we teach, and we've been doing that for the last few years. But always, primarily, we are a motivation engine.

I do, I spend effort on that, but it's not just me. I think at the company, it is pretty well understood that if it's not fun, it's not going to work. And so we spend a lot of effort trying to keep Duolingo enjoyable. And this is why we, you know, for example, when we did this thing where you can talk to an AI to practice conversation. You're not just talking to a random AI.

I do, I spend effort on that, but it's not just me. I think at the company, it is pretty well understood that if it's not fun, it's not going to work. And so we spend a lot of effort trying to keep Duolingo enjoyable. And this is why we, you know, for example, when we did this thing where you can talk to an AI to practice conversation. You're not just talking to a random AI.