You can add Duolingo to the growing list of companies jumping on the generative AI bandwagon. On Wednesday, the company announced , a new, more expensive subscription level that comes with access to a couple of GPT-4 features. The first of these, “Explain My Answer,” allows you to ask Duo, a chatbot named after the company’s owl mascot, to explain why your answer to a question was correct or incorrect, with the option to request additional clarification if you need further assistance.
The second feature, Roleplay, allows you to practice the skills you’ve learned through Duolingo in various settings. For example, one session asks you to order food and drinks at a Parisian cafe. Duolingo says that no two conversations are exactly the same, even when you rehearse a situation more than once, and users can earn experience points by completing practice sessions.
“Most people don’t have access to a personalized human tutor, but I think AI will eventually allow us to recreate the human tutor experience and scale it for everyone in the world,” Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn said. . “I am very excited to share these amazing new features with millions of Duolingo learners.”
Duolingo has been working on Duolingo Max since 2022, as part of a partnership where OpenAI gave the company access to its new GPT-4 model prior to this. Fortunately, Duolingo is aware enough to support the language abilities of GPT-4. . “We have spent months collaborating closely with OpenAI to test and train this technology, and we will continue to do so until bugs are almost non-existent,” the company notes, adding that users can report an incorrect AI response by long-pressing on a message. Users can also rate an Explain My Answer session by offering a thumbs up or thumbs down emoji once they’re done with one.
Starting today, Duolingo Max is available for English-speaking iOS users who are learning Spanish and French. In the US, the service will cost $30 per month or $168 per year. It comes with all the features that are part of the existing Duolingo Super Subscription, including unlimited hearts and no ads.
