Latest news with #Duolingo
Sky News AU
10 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Amazon boss announces it may need ‘fewer' employees in coming years as company explores AI
Amazon employees have had their biggest fears confirmed as the CEO announced an increased use of AI may result in 'fewer' workers needed in the company. In a message shared to Amazon employees this week, boss Andy Jassy stated AI is 'rapidly becoming reality,' as the company continues to invest in the technology. 'It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the country,' he said in the statement. Amazon is continuing to develop Generative AI to 'change the scope and speed at which we can innovate for customers,' and think 'strategically about how to improve customer experiences and invent new ones.' 'Today, we have over 1,000 Generative AI services and applications in progress or built,' Mr Jassy said. Despite the high number of AI systems, Mr Jassy said Amazon is still at the 'relative beginning' of its journey with AI, and encouraged employees to invest in the service. 'Those who embrace this change, become conversant in AI, help us build and improve our AI capabilities internally and deliver for customers, will be well-positioned to have high impact.' Frustrated employees have shared their thoughts in internal messages, revealed by Business Insider, claiming Mr Jassy has finally 'said the quiet part out loud.' 'There is nothing more motivating on a Tuesday than reading that your job will be replaced by AI in a few years,' one employee said. 'Our CEO doesn't seem to have a vision for the company other than 'do what we do today cheaper, and also AI will happen',' said another. Other staff said Amazon should look for more ways to work alongside AI, rather than using it to replace employees. 'We need to lead the change in reframing AI as partners (even teammates or colleagues) rather than AI as replacements or tools,' an employee said. It comes after popular language learning app Duolingo came under fire for announcing the platform would only hire new employees if they can prove work could not be automated with AI. 'We'll gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle,' CEO Luis von Ahn said in a statement.
NZ Herald
21 hours ago
- Business
- NZ Herald
Popular services keep adding AI. Some customers want them to stop.
For 581 days in a row, artist Karen Crow dutifully opened language-learning app Duolingo and practised her French. For the past decade, she used audiobook service Audible to listen to books while working and travelling. But at the end of May, Crow cancelled both subscriptions over the companies' decisions to
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Planning a trip abroad? The tech essentials that could help it go more smoothly
Summer is peak travel time, and therefore time to re-evaluate your tech. While a holiday is the perfect time to dial back the doomscrolling and social media addiction, there are also ways that technology can help your trip go more smoothly. Before you go Languages If you need to learn a few essential phrases to get you through the day while on your travels, Duolingo is an easy first step. The free version limits you to five mistakes a day, so you can build up a few key phrases in a short space of time. And if you need a buddy to practice your conversational skills with, simply go to ChatGPT or Gemini and ask it to speak to you in your language of choice. You can then chat away and hone your skills. READ MORE Packing app If you are a frequent traveller, packing becomes second nature. For the rest of us, there are lists. Or attempts at lists. Inevitably, something gets left behind and, hopefully, it is something that is easily replaced. If you aren't willing to take the risk, however, there are lists, and apps that will create AI-generated lists for you. [ Want an airport upgrade? Getting business class seats or valet parking doesn't have to break the bank Opens in new window ] A favourite around here is TripIt's PackPoint app . You can give it all the basic information it needs such as the length of stay, date of travel and activities while you are there. Add in the location and the app will use weather reports and other AI-powered data to create a personalised packing list for your trip. All you have to do is stick to the list. Travel guides It is inevitable that AI will take some sort of role in your holiday tech. If you need a bit of help to plan your itinerary before you go, GuideGeek is a good option. An AI-powered chatbot that works on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram, it can provide recommendations for holiday activities based around your personal criteria: walking distance from your accommodation, mobility issues to take into account, personal interests. It will also give more practical information, such as whether cash or card is preferred locally, where the nearest ATM is and what the local customs are around tipping. On the way Noise-cancelling headphones If you want to survive a long-haul flight with your sanity intact, a set of good noise-cancelling earphones or earbuds are essential. Apple fans may already be hooked by AirPods Pro, which have decent noise cancelling, while Pixel phone users may have discovered the upside to pairing up with Pixel Buds. But there are other choices. Sony, for example, has the WH-1000XM5, a set of over-ear headphones with excellent noise cancelling and great battery life at €299 – comparable to a pair of AirPods Pro. They are comfortable to wear for long periods too – you won't feel like they are squeezing your head – and they have a quick attention mode should you need to pay attention to what is going on around you. Bluetooth trackers Most people will admit to some sort of luggage anxiety while travelling. Perhaps they have been burned by an airline in the past, with their cases failing to materialise at their destination. Or maybe they immediately imagine the worst case scenarios in their heads, where their luggage never arrives and they are forced to handwash the same two T-shirts for their holiday. Bluetooth trackers can alleviate some of that anxiety. There is something reassuring about checking in on an app while sitting on the plane to find your luggage tag is pinging from somewhere close by. The catch is that Bluetooth tags will require a strong network of people also using the same system to help you locate lost devices. Once you are out of Bluetooth range, you will be depending on that network to connect in with your tracker and bounce its location to you. After testing several of these trackers, the most effective I found were the ones that link in with the big phone companies. Apple's Find My network is particularly strong on this, using the power of millions of devices to create a fairly comprehensive system to help you track down your tags. Apple's own tags are designed to work with iPhones, iPads and Macs, but there are third-party companies coming on board. Tile and Eufy, for example, have tags that will link with Apple's Find My system, while also keeping their own apps. If the worst happens, and your luggage gets left in an airport along the way, you can now share your luggage tracker's information with your airline – assuming they support it – to help them locate your bag more quickly. Bluetooth transmitters I like in-flight entertainment, but I hate the headphones you get on the plane. Some airlines now allow you to link your smartphone or tablet to the in-flight system and use your Bluetooth headphones to watch TV shows and movies while you fly. But if that's not an option, the Twelve South AirFly Bluetooth transmitter can be a good stopgap. The device plugs in to the headphone jack on the seat and, once paired properly, will transmit the audio to your Bluetooth earbuds of choice. The Pro version will allow you to split audio between two sets of headphones, which is also a good solution if you have a single tablet and two people who want to use it. As a bonus, the device will also turn anything with a headphone jack – speakers, stereo, even your TV – into a Bluetooth-enabled audio device. E-readers If you are a holiday reader, you will be familiar with the struggle between taking enough books to see you through the holiday and managing to stay within your airline's luggage limits. This is where e-readers are a lifeline, allowing you to pack hundreds of books into something smaller than a single paperback. You could load them on to a tablet or smartphone, but e-ink displays are not only better for your eyes than a smartphone screen, they will also have a much longer battery life, lasting a few weeks in between charges rather than a few hours. The obvious choice is a Kindle, with Amazon's e-reader giving people an easy way to buy books from Amazon's store directly, or borrow them through Amazon's Kindle Unlimited subscription. You can also get magazines on subscription delivered to your device. It's a good all-rounder. However, if you want to use your local library's BorrowBox titles, you will have to look outside of the Kindle e-reader. Kobo is another option with fewer restrictions than the Kindle. Its six-inch e-reader has a built-in light, wifi and Bluetooth for connectivity, and enough storage to hold up to 12,000 books. And you can use it with BorrowBox to get titles free of charge from your library. While you are there Translation If your limited Duolingo skills fail you, you have options. For translating speech in real time, you have Google Translate, which will not only help you order your meals but can also use your phone's camera to translate text such as menus or signs. Apple has its own language translation app too, simply called Translate, which does virtually the same thing, from real-time conversations to printed words. Getting around When it comes to getting around, Google Maps is still a favourite. Not only does it have a fairly decent grasp of what is available in the local area, there are extras such as the Live View, which allows you to get your bearings by pointing the phone's camera at signs and buildings. You can download selected areas of maps to your device for offline directions, just in case you can't access the internet while out and about. There is also Apple Maps, which comes with your iPhone, and also offers an offline feature. If you are planning any trips in the next few weeks, it may even proactively suggest you download the relevant map before you leave home. Plus you can search for some local activities and sights before you go, and add them to a personalised travel guide so you have suggestions at your fingertips when you need them.
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
CEOs are trying to warn you: Use AI or else
The latest corporate mantra: AI or bye-bye. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's warning this week that expanding use of artificial intelligence will mean the company needs fewer people in some roles — and more in others — is the latest sign that, increasingly, CEOs see no place in the corporate world for AI holdouts. While messages that amount to "learn AI or be left behind" might be unnerving, corporate observers told Business Insider that it's ultimately better for cubicle dwellers to hear this message now, rather than when they're sidelined. "If I were an employee, I would be very frustrated with my leader saying, 'No, we're still not sure if this is going to have an impact,'" Christopher Myers, the faculty director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, told BI. Instead, he said, corporate leaders are wise to acknowledge that AI "almost certainly" will rejigger roles and entire org charts. Several other high-wattage CEOs are saying as much. OpenAI's Sam Altman said this month that AI agents were already starting to churn out work comparable to that of junior employees. That followed a warning in late May from Dario Amodei, who runs Anthropic, that AI could eliminate half of entry-level desk jobs within five years. Even Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who disagreed with Amodei's sobering take, has said AI is likely to change "everyone's" job — as it had already done to his. Managing humans and AI agents Salesforce chief Marc Benioff has also spoken regularly about the changes AI is bringing. He has said the software giant likely won't hire any more engineers in 2025 because AI is supercharging its existing workers. Benioff also said in a February call with investors that he tells fellow chiefs that they're the last generation of leaders to oversee only people. "I think every CEO going forward is going to manage humans and agents together," he said. Yet CEOs' straight talk doesn't always go over well with employees or customers. Luis von Ahn, CEO of Duolingo, said in a recent memo to staff that the language-learning company was going to be " AI-first" and that, as such, it would gradually stop turning to contractors when AI could do the job, among other changes. Some Duolingo users said the company was driving out workers in favor of AI. Later, von Ahn wrote on LinkedIn that one of the most important things leaders can do is to provide clarity. "When I released my AI memo a few weeks ago, I didn't do that well," he wrote. In the post, von Ahn added that while he didn't know exactly what would happen with AI, it would "fundamentally change the way we work, and we have to get ahead of it." Some of that change could involve cutting workers. In its annual outlook on the future of jobs, the World Economic Forum said in January that among the more than 1,000 employers it surveyed globally, 41% said they planned to trim their workforce as AI takes on some tasks. Clearing the way Myers, from Johns Hopkins, said Jassy's latest pronouncement on AI's impact could create space for other CEOs to have sometimes difficult discussions about how AI will affect workers. "Having the frank conversation may be better than allowing people to just speculate wildly about whether it will or won't have an impact," he said. Myers said those who think they have AI all figured out are fooling themselves — as are those who think they can ignore it. "Anyone who's putting their head in the sand is missing a very rapidly changing thing," he said. Leading workers through what are likely to be rapid changes is something leaders have to nail, Sarah Franklin, CEO of the HR software company Lattice, told BI. She said those in charge need to make clear that while prior periods of transition didn't occur as fast, it will be possible to get through this one. At times, though, it could be a treacherous passage. Franklin said the structure of some organizations is shifting from a triangle shape — with a plethora of entry-level jobs at the bottom — to more of a diamond, as AI takes on more of the rote work once handled by less-experienced workers. That means the elimination of many starter roles. There could be other challenges, as well. For all the zeal some CEOs have shown for AI's promise of soaring productivity, Melissa Swift, the founder and CEO of consultancy Anthrome Insight, told BI that she often hears from clients that the tech investments they've made aren't paying off. She said one part of the problem is that companies need to orchestrate changes in how humans work, not just invest in shiny new technology. Swift said people often learn by playing with things. So, until more workers dig into AI, it could be hard for some bosses to bring about some of the widespread changes they're hoping for, she said. Another challenge: Changing how organizations work is easier when technology is more or less static, Swift said. Yet AI is clocking massive gains in its abilities every few months. "None of this stuff is mature," she said. "We're doing the world's biggest beta test." Lattice's Franklin said the speed of the technological changes is one reason it's essential that leaders communicate clearly with employees about what's underway — and that workers listen. "Armageddon isn't happening," she said. "But our world is evolving at a very fast pace."
Washington Post
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Popular services keep adding AI. Some customers want them to stop.
For 581 days in a row, artist Karen Crow dutifully opened language-learning app Duolingo and practiced her French. For the past decade, she used audiobook service Audible to listen to books while working and traveling.
