What just happened? Another company has learned that going all-in on AI at the expense of human workers might save money, but the backlash from users can outweigh the financial benefits. Language-learning app Duolingo, whose CEO recently said AI would replace contract workers, has reversed course, stating that the company would "continue to hire" humans and support employees. At the end of April, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announced plans for the firm to become yet another "AI-first" company, meaning more of the technology being integrated into the platform and the eventual elimination of contract workers. Von Ahn said Duolingo would "gradually stop using contractors to do work AI can handle." He added that proficiency with the technology would become part of workers' annual reviews, and new employees would only be hired "if a team cannot automate more of their work." The CEO doubled down on his AI praise on the No Priors podcast a week later. He said AI would transform schools as we know them, replacing teachers who would move from instructing students to supervising them as the AI took over traditional teaching duties. "I also don't think schools are going to go away because you still need childcare," he added. Last month wasn't the first time von Ahn had shown a willingness to replace humans with AI. In January 2024, 10% of Duolingo's contract workers were laid off due to the technology. // Related Stories Unsurprisingly, von Ahn's push hasn't been well received by both Duolingo's users and the majority of the public. The company tried to address the controversy in an Instagram post that manages to hugely miss the mark. The most liked comment reads, "Call us old-fashioned, but we prefer our lessons to be taught by humans."         View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by DuolingoIt appears that von Ahn has decided that the bad publicity isn't worth the headache. In a LinkedIn post providing "more context to my vision," von Ahn wrote, "To be clear: I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do. I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality." After companies starting falling over each other in their rush to praise generative AI and use it to replace workers, some are now curbing their enthusiasm. Buy now, pay later app Klarna, another firm that went all-in on AI and has let go of thousands of employees as a result, is now hiring humans again after CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski admitted that its customer service AI chatbots offered a "lower quality" than their fleshy equivalents. Moreover, many people refuse to use a company's services if they are forced to talk to a machine rather than a real person. Not every company is backing away from the AI-first pledge. Shopify's CEO told managers last month they must prove an AI can't do the job better than a human before hiring new workers. #duolingo #ceo #backtracks #push #after

SoundCloud is updating its Terms of Use again after angering users with language around AI that even the company now describes as "too broad." The details of the change were shared in an open letter from SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton affirming the company's commitment to artists. Specifically, SoundCloud's Terms of Use now forbids the company from using content uploaded to SoundCloud to train generative AI that replicates an artist without their consent. As it's phrased in the new terms SoundCloud is rolling out in the next few weeks: We will not use Your Content to train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesize your voice, music, or likeness without your explicit consent, which must be affirmatively provided through an opt-in mechanism. Seton also reiterated that Soundcloud has never used "artist content" to train AI. "Not for music creation. Not for large language models. Not for anything that tries to mimic or replace your work," Seton writes. The conflict over SoundCloud's approach to AI started when users noticed that the company had updated its Terms of Use in February 2024 to allow SoundCloud to use content to "inform, train, develop or serve as input to artificial intelligence or machine intelligence technologies or services as part of and for providing the services."  SoundCloud claims that it would only ever use artist's content to train AI music discovery tools. The company acquired Musiio in 2022 with that exact idea in mind. Still, it's understandable that SoundCloud users would be sensitive to any AI-related changes the company makes. Like most other content stored online, AI companies have scraped music without artists' consent and been fairly open about it.This article originally appeared on Engadget at #soundcloud #backtracks #039too #broad039 #terms

SoundCloud has altered its platform policies to require opt-ins for training generative AI models with artists' music following widespread user backlash, the company announced today in a letter from its CEO.On Friday, Futurism broke the story that SoundCloud had quietly updated its Terms of Usein February 2024 with language allowing it to train AI using users' uploaded content, which could include uploaded music.The updated terms — which were flagged by users on Bluesky and X— included some exceptions to account for music and other content licensed under third parties. But the AI provision was overall extremely broad, and could feasibly grant the music-sharing site the right to funnel much of its vast content library into generative AI models as training material, whether now or in the future.Though the change was made back in February 2024, it seemed like site users were largely unaware of the change. Artists responded with rage and frustration, taking to social media to express their anger at the company and, in many cases, claiming they'd deleted and scrubbed their accounts.In response to the mess, SoundCloud issued a lengthy statement clarifying that, despite the provision's sweeping language, it hadn't used artists' music to train AI models. That included generative AI tools like large language modelsand music generation tools, according to SoundCloud.Now, it looks like SoundCloud is doubling down on those promises — and changing its policies.In the letter released today, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton conceded that SoundCloud's language around AI training was "too broad." To rectify that, said Seton, the company revised its user terms, which now bar SoundCloud from using artists' music to "train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesize your voice, music, or likeness" without the explicit consent of artists.The new clause adds that should SoundCloud seek to use its artists' music to train generative AI, it would have to earn that consent through opt-in mechanisms — as opposed to opt-outs, which are notoriously slippery.Seton also reiterated SoundCloud's commitment to blocking third parties from scraping SoundCloud for AI training data, and characterized the changes as a "formal commitment that any use of AI on SoundCloud will be based on consent, transparency, and artist control."According to Seton, the initial AI policy change was a reflection of SoundCloud's internal use of AI for features like music discovery algorithms and Pro features, fraud detection, customer service, and platform personalization, among other features. SoundCloud also uses AI to target opted-in users with advertisements based on their perceived mood. It also allows users to upload AI-generated music, and boasts a slew of partnerships with platform-integrated AI music and generation tools.If there's any moral here, it's that language matters, as do the voices of the artists who power creative platforms — especially in an era where data-hungry AI models and the companies that make them are looking to suck up valuable human-made content wherever they can.Seton, for his part, promised that SoundCloud would "keep showing up with transparency.""We're going to keep listening. And we're going to make sure you're informed and involved every step of the way," reads the letter. "Thanks for being a part of the SoundCloud community and for holding us accountable to the values we all share."More on SoundCloud and AI: SoundCloud Quietly Updated Their Terms to Let AI Feast on Artists' MusicShare This Article #soundcloud #backtracks #plans #after #artist

In Brief Posted: 10:22 AM PDT · May 14, 2025 Image Credits:Thomas Trutschel/Photothek / Getty ImagesSoundCloud backtracks on AI-related terms of use updates SoundCloud says it’s revising its terms after widespread backlash over a clause related to AI model training. Earlier this year, SoundCloud quietly updated its usage policies, adding wording that many users interpreted as legal cover to allow the company to train AI on audio uploaded to its platform. SoundCloud was quick to assert that it wasn’t developing AI by using its users’ content, but the company’s PR statement didn’t allay fears that SoundCloud might do so in the future. On Wednesday, SoundCloud CEO Eliah Seton published an open letter admitting that the wording of the changes to the company’s terms “was too broad and wasn’t clear enough.” The updates were intended to focus on other uses of AI internally at the company, Seton said — including recommendations and tools to help prevent fraud — but missed the mark. SoundCloud has now revised its terms “to make it absolutely clearSoundCloud will not usecontent to train generative AI models that aim to replicate or synthesizevoice, music, or likeness,” said Seton. Topics #soundcloud #backtracks #airelated #terms #use