Duolingo's recent announcement to replace contractors with AI and transition to an "AI-first" company has sparked discussion about the growing AI jobs crisis. Journalist Brian Merchant highlights this shift as evidence that the crisis is already here and affecting workers. Merchant spoke with a former Duolingo contractor who revealed that this is not a new policy. At the end of 2023, the company had already cut about 10% of its contractor workforce, primarily affecting translators. Another round of cuts followed in October 2024, impacting writers. Each time, AI was the chosen replacement. The broader context of this trend includes reports in The Atlantic documenting an unusually high unemployment rate among recent college graduates. One possible explanation is that companies are opting to automate entry-level white-collar jobs with AI, or their increased spending on AI technology is diverting resources away from hiring new employees. Brian Merchant emphasizes that the AI jobs crisis is not a dystopian scenario where robots take over all tasks. Instead, it is a result of deliberate management decisions aimed at reducing labor costs and consolidating control within organizations. These decisions are leading to attrition in creative industries, declining income for freelance artists, writers, and illustrators, and a general reluctance among corporations to hire human workers. Merchant compares this phenomenon to the fictional scenario of DOGE, where a company might fire tens of thousands of federal employees under an "AI-first strategy." While the scale of Duolingo's actions might not match such a dramatic example, the underlying principle is the same: companies are leveraging AI to streamline operations and reduce workforce expenses, often at the expense of human jobs.