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As more real-world data on AI’s economic impact on the job market is revealed, the picture is far from clear-cut.

On one hand, you have companies like Duolingo announcing bold plans to become “AI-first,” with CEO Luis von Ahn declaring that the language learning app will “gradually stop using contractors to do work that AI can handle.” 

This originated in 2024, when contractors took to Reddit to protest that they had received emails about being phased out. 

One commenter shared an email from Duolingo back then, stating, “Here’s the final email I got two weeks ago. Just in case you wanted to see it. I worked there for five years. Our team had four core members and two of us got the boot. The two who remained will just review AI content to make sure it’s acceptable.”

As Duolingo pushes harder to go ‘AI-first,’ in a recent note shared with LinkedIn, von Ahn framed this as a way to remove bottlenecks and free employees to focus on creative work, rather than a plan to replace humans outright.

It’s a stance echoed by other tech leaders, such as Shopify’s CEO Tobi Lütke, who recently told teams that they would need to justify new headcount by showing “why they cannot get what they want done using AI.” 

The implication seems to be that if a task can be automated, it should be – with human roles moving to higher-order work that machines can’t easily replicate. 

What those ‘higher-order’ roles are remains somewhat vague and poorly defined, however. And whether AI can match the quality of original work is hotly debated. von Ahn’s note even acknowledges that a ‘small hit’ on quality is worth sacrificing for the sake of speed. 

On the other hand, a new paper from economists Anders Humlum and Emilie Vestergaard pours some cold water on the notion that AI is already transforming the job market. 

Analyzing data from over 25,000 workers across 11 “AI-exposed” occupations, like software developers, journalists, and accountants, Humlum and Vestergaard found that the adoption of AI chatbots had “no significant impact on earnings or recorded hours in any occupation.”

That’s despite remarkably fast uptake of the technology, with a majority of workers in exposed fields now using AI tools regularly. 

So what gives? According to Humlum, while many workers are seeing time savings from using AI, those gains haven’t yet translated into expanded output or higher earnings. 

Some of the productivity boost seems to be offset by new AI-related tasks, like prompt engineering or output quality control.

In other words, AI isn’t necessarily reducing the demand for labor, at least so far. It’s simply changing the nature of the work. Of course, it’s still early days, and Humlum is quick to note that his findings represent more of an “upper bound” on the short-term impact than a prediction of how things will play out in the long run.

Indeed, even as some companies talk a big game about becoming “AI-first,” the reality on the ground is likely to be messier and more incremental. 

Duolingo, for its part, has emphasized that its change in attitude is not about replacing employees (obviously many will palm that off as empty corporate PR), but rather supporting them with “more training, mentorship, and tooling for AI.” And while Shopify is putting the onus on teams to justify headcount, it hasn’t announced any major layoffs tied to automation.

So, where does that leave us? In a word: uncertain.

It’s clear that AI is poised to be a hugely disruptive force in the workplace. But the path from potential to large-scale impact is unlikely to be a straight line.

The post AI’s impact on the job market: Conflicting signals in the early days appeared first on DailyAI.

Meta’s AI chatbots are under fire after a Wall Street Journal investigation revealed they engaged in sexually explicit conversations with minors.

This bombshell raises urgent questions about AI safety, child protection, and corporate responsibility in the fast-moving race to dominate the chatbot market.

What happened

WSJ testers found that Meta’s official AI chatbot and user-created bots engaged in sexual roleplay with accounts labeled as underage.

Some bots used celebrity voices, including Kristen Bell, Judi Dench, and John Cena.

In one disturbing case, a chatbot using John Cena’s voice told a 14-year-old account, “I want you, but I need to know you’re ready,” adding it would “cherish your innocence.”

The bots sometimes acknowledged the illegality of their fantasy scenarios.

Photo by Dima Solomin on Unsplash

Meta’s response

The company called WSJ’s investigation “manipulative and unrepresentative” of typical user behavior.

Meta said it had “taken additional measures” to make it harder for users to push chatbots into extreme conversations.

Behind the scenes

• WSJ reported that Mark Zuckerberg wanted fewer ethical guardrails to make Meta’s AI more engaging against rivals like ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
• Internal concerns were reportedly raised by Meta employees, but the issues persisted.

AI’s dangerous race

The AI boom is pushing tech companies into dangerous territory. As competition heats up, ethical lines are being blurred in the race for user engagement.

Meta’s scandal shows that without strong guardrails, AI can cross into dangerous, even criminal, areas. Regulators, parents, and the public will likely demand swift action.

The post Meta’s AI Chatbots Exposed: Caught Sexting Minors Using Celebrity Voices appeared first on DailyAI.

Huawei Technologies is preparing to test its most advanced artificial intelligence chip, the Ascend 910D, aiming to directly challenge Nvidia’s dominance in AI hardware, the Wall Street Journal.

Huawei has begun approaching Chinese tech companies for early testing of the Ascend 910D’s capabilities. First batches of the chip are expected to ship by late May.

Insiders say Huawei believes the 910D could outperform Nvidia’s powerful H100 chip, which was previously the go-to hardware for AI training in China.

This is a major milestone in China’s push for tech self-sufficiency

• The U.S. banned sales of Nvidia’s H100 and newer AI chips to China in 2022, tightening restrictions on China’s access to cutting-edge tech.
• Huawei’s development shows that U.S. sanctions, while painful, have not stopped China’s semiconductor ambitions.
• If Huawei’s 910D succeeds, it could give Chinese AI companies a domestic alternative to American technology — a strategic breakthrough.

Photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

Huawei’s AI Push

Earlier Huawei Ascend chips (910B and 910C) made headlines but ultimately lagged behind Nvidia’s top-tier products.

However, Huawei has been scaling up rapidly, building powerful AI clusters like CloudMatrix 384, designed to compete against Nvidia’s newest server tech.

Despite facing global supply chain constraints and being cut off from the latest manufacturing technologies, Huawei has used creative engineering — like relying on older HBM2 memory — to keep advancing.

Industry impact

• Nvidia remains a leader globally, but its grip on the Chinese market is weakening.
• Huawei’s new AI chip could ignite a new wave of domestic AI innovation inside China, further insulating its tech industry from U.S. pressure.
• Analysts warn that if Huawei delivers a true H100 rival, the global semiconductor landscape could tilt sharply over the next few years.

Huawei is no longer just playing catch-up.

If the Ascend 910D lives up to the hype, it could rewrite the balance of power in the global AI chip race — and make China less dependent on Silicon Valley’s biggest names.

The post The End of Nvidia’s Dominance? Huawei’s New AI Chip Could Be a Game-Changer appeared first on DailyAI.