Duolingo, Inc. (DUOL) saw its stock price surge by 5.23% in Thursday's trading session following the announcement of the company's ambitious plan to gradually replace contract workers with artificial intelligence (AI). This strategic shift towards an "AI-first" approach has captured investors' attention, driving the stock's significant uptick.

In an email shared on Duolingo's LinkedIn account, CEO and founder Luis von Ahn outlined the company's vision for integrating AI into its operations. "AI has already changed the way we work," von Ahn stated, emphasizing the urgency of adapting to this technological revolution. The language learning app plans to leverage AI in various aspects of its business, including content creation, recruitment, and employee assessment processes.

The move towards AI is expected to streamline Duolingo's operations and significantly boost its content production capabilities. Von Ahn highlighted that manual content creation would have taken "decades" to achieve what AI can now accomplish rapidly. This acceleration in content development is anticipated to expand Duolingo's reach to more learners globally, potentially driving user growth and revenue. While the company assures it will remain committed to its employees, the strategic pivot suggests a future where human workers can focus more on creative tasks, leaving repetitive work to AI systems.