Using artificial intelligence is becoming a prerequisite for many jobs, but some companies are rethinking its value when it comes to assessing employee performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly a year after announcing Duolingo would evaluate AI use in performance reviews, CEO Luis von Ahn said the company has let that metric go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On April 28, 2025, he announced<\/a> that the edtech company would be \u201cAI-first,\u201d and employees would be assessed on their AI use.\u00a0<\/p>\n It has sparked a public backlash<\/a>, and von Ahn told the Financial Times<\/a> last year that he \u201cdid not expect the blowback\u201d after longtime Duolingo users commented they were deleting the app.<\/p>\n In an interview on the Silcon Valley Girl<\/a> podcast last week, he described the feedback from employees, saying some began to ask if Duolingo just wanted them to use AI for AI\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end, we backtracked, and we said, \u2018No. Look, the most important thing in your performance is that you are doing whatever your job is as well as possible. A lot of times AI can help you with that. But if it can\u2019t, I\u2019m not going to force you to do that,\u2019\u201d von Ahn said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt felt like rather than being held accountable for the actual outcome, we\u2019re trying to just push something that in some cases did not fit.\u201d<\/p>\n Von Ahn\u2019s new approach diverges from many companies that are going all in on incentivizing AI employee use. Until recently, Meta<\/a> had a leaderboard<\/a> of the top 250 AI token users companywide, an employee-led effort that allowed workers to see how much AI their colleagues were using.\u00a0<\/p>\n This month, employees at marketing automation platform Omnisend who are considered outstanding AI users will be awarded a 2% to 4% raise. They will be evaluated on how much time and money their AI use saves; tangible outcomes from their AI workflows; and how widely those workflows are adopted.\u00a0<\/p>\n But a recent global survey<\/a> conducted by SAP<\/a> subsidiary WalkMe found that workers are quietly ducking AI use. More than a third of employees surveyed skipped using AI on tasks because it would stop their workflow or cost them more time.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to pushback on how employees are using AI, many employees see the technology as a direct threat<\/a> to their jobs and livelihoods. Von Ahn\u2019s AI-first declaration last year said the company would replace contractors with AI, which raised eyebrows<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n