Duolingo is once again making language learning fun by introducing three artificially intelligent chatbots that will talk to users based on their responses.This was announced by Duolingo founder Louis von Ahn.
According to Ahn, the idea came from the realization that in order to learn a certain language more quickly and effectively, students need to have conversations with the native speaker of that language. The main problem, however, is embarrassment and fear in using the language stop students from doing so. Therefore, the bots are an answer to that dilemma because it provides students a "chat mate" minus the fear and embarrassment if they make a mistake.
Duolingo, who has 150 million users worldwide, uses an approach that is similar to Rosetta Stone, a language software that also teaches language. They use flashcards and let learners choose the correct words along with the pronunciation. The process is repeated until students gain mastery then the next level unlocks if they pass the current level.
Ahn understands that there is still a great challenge between human and bots interaction.However, he hopes that this will be a start in solving that problem. His vision is to build systems that will integrate human and computer intelligence in order to solve problems that neither can solve alone.
Ahn hasn't revealed yet how they are going to develop their bots but he said that they will learn from how users might interact with them and become more human as time passes by. There are still skeptics, of course, but Duolingo's efforts might be the beginning to change the negative perception people have about bots.
The A.I-powered bots have their own personalities, jobs, and nationalities. They are Officer Ada, Chef Roberto, and Renee the Driver, who will help learners as they study French, German, and Spanish. They will first be rolled out first among iPhone users.
