Adolescents Respond to Duolingo

This week's Parent Resource is: "Adolescents Respond to Duolingo"
 
During my first retreat with Grace Students, I had an introductory conversation with a student who abruptly paused with the phrase, "I can't have that green bird mad at me again." This green bird was the Duolingo bird. If you are not familiar, Duolingo is an app that assists in teaching you another language. The brand is known for its zany nature alongside its problematic mascot, a green bird with an explosive personality. This mascot is one of the big reasons that Duolingo has been so successful in advertising on social media platforms.
 
As of 2024, Duolingo boasts a user count of approximately 88 million. Over 60% of these users are under the age of 30. With many adolescents active on this language-learning app, there are many opinions about where the company announced it is going last week. The CEO announced the company is going from human-worker run to running solely off AI. The response has been mostly negative amongst adolescents, but some are leaning into this transition.
 
Gen Alpha is the first generation in history to grow up without knowledge of a world without AI. How can we talk with them as they wrestle with the ethics of AI?

Continue the Conversation @ Home:
Here are a few questions to keep the conversation going at home:

• Do you have any friends who use Duolingo?
• What do you think are the good things that come with Duolingo becoming AI-run?
• What are the negative implications of this decision?
• How much AI is too much?
• Would this affect your choice when choosing an app?