You don’t need friends in other countries to practice your language skills when you have AI
Practicing with a native speaker has long been seen as the best way to learn a language, but Duolingo thinks its AI characters can fill in if you don’t have a global contact list. The language learning app showcased two new AI features at its annual Duocon conference, Video Call and Adventures – both aiming to boost your language skills with AI.
Video Call, as the name suggests, is a video phone call with an AI character who speaks the language you are trying to learn. The feature uses the widely used Duolingo character Lily, a somewhat dour but clever personality, who will chat with you using AI to understand and respond to what you say realistically. That includes what she says and the voice speaking the words, which mimics a human pretty well in tone and cadence, with pauses for ‘thought’ incorporated into the dialogue.
It’s not a one-size-fits-all conversation, either. Lily will adjust her response based on how far along you are in learning the language, gently correcting errors and encouraging you to keep trying.
