Duolingo Is Cooked

Lately being on the internet feels like clamoring up the topsails while it sinks deeper into AI-infested waters. The latest shipwreck is Duolingo, where CEO Luis von Ahn proclaimed his “AI-first” agenda on LinkedIn, much to the chagrin of the language app’s userbase.

Duolingo has been on the enshittification trajectory for a while now, which bums me out, because I’ve actually enjoyed the app quite a bit. It’s cheeky, it gamifies language to make it more fun, and it’s helpful for reinforcing vocabulary. The persistent (if not outright threatening) green owl is probably responsible for me speaking Spanish with more fluidity than I used to.

But in the last year or so, AI has been slowly plucking out the owl’s feathers. The lessons reek of the sterile non-sequitors common with LLM generation. The UI has become more predatory as it pushes you towards higher subscription tiers. And the AI video calls with Lily, while novel, are often clumsy and uncomfortable, as you rush to complete your sentences before she responds to half-uttered phrases. In some cases, the conversations turns weirdly puritanical: when her AI asked what I like to drink, it hung up on me when I mentioned I sometimes like to have a beer.

Despite these foibles, von Ahn’s message to users is, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. In fact, he mentions “occasional small hits on quality” as they reorient their systems to AI, an odd promise when your current AI products are upwards of $150 a year. Not to mention those hits on quality will probably be larger and more frequent than a well-polished corporate memo would have users believe.

Although maybe the most sinister aspect of the memo is telling employees that Duolingo “cares deeply” about them. That rings pretty hollow when the first casualty of their “AI-first” philosophy is outside contractors. It’s a bit like telling the permanent crew of your ship you’ve got their back, while you walk the merchant sailors off the plank.

All in all, it’s a terrible look. As a brand guy, my sympathies go out to the marketing team. The frenzied, absurdist meme-fest of their content has garnered a lot of good will from their users for years now, and their CEO just set it ablaze. But sadly, this feels like the inevitable descent of every publicly traded company these days: the quixotic pursuit of infinite profit derived from zero labor. The mythic perpetual motion engine of capitalism.

I won’t be renewing my Duolingo subscription when it expires. Look as menacingly at me as you want, Duo. I’ll just shut the curtains and wait for you to get bored.

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Parasites

As with the previous week, this past week’s theme of Parasites was inspired in no small part by the general state of affairs on planet Earth. Here are what species we discovered based on Twitch chat’s prompts.

Parasitic Pigeon

(Prompt from CeruleanOak)

Pigeons, to me, are a tragedy of mistaken identity. Often called the “rats of the sky,” they are, in fact, domesticated birds gone partially feral due to generations of neglect. Yes, they flock to your cities, because they were literally bred to occupy them.

On an alternate version of earth, not only had they gone wild, they’d gone vampire, thus wreaking their revenge on their once affectionate masters. No longer content to eat crumbs, they now feast on human flesh. Should make you thankful for your own sky rats, no?

Parasitic Landlord

(Prompt from Nipplepotomus)

In a forested world, there are stout, gnomish creatures who suck every last nutrient they can from those who occupy the land. These are the parasitic landlords, and should you fail to till their soil, their carnivorous hands will find other means of consumption. Beware eviction, for it means your devouring.

Krangfield

(Prompt by Welkhiki)

A clash of radical dimensions forged this unholy creature, a mechanized feline with no autonomy, piloted by a sentient lasagna. Its megalomaniac quest will not cease until every Monday has been eradicated.

Iron Giant Spider

(Prompt by IdhYaa)

Finally, a mistake in reassembly has resulted in this creeping abomination. While it once idealized the benevolence of Superman, it now craves only a complete body, and will perhaps roam the earth collection scraps until it can reach its former status.

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature happens every Saturday on Twitch. I am FancySchmancy, an eldritch undersea scholar on a quest to draw every creature in the multiverse. Each week, I select a theme, chat gives me prompts, and the Abyssal Bestiary selects which prompts we draw. Join me!

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Garbage

For no reason in particular, I’ve felt like the world’s been a bit trash lately. I don’t know, something about a dull cadre of third-generation nepo-babies tanking the economy for the lulz gives me the sensation the country is their dumpster, and we’re just living in it. So, in the spirit of the pungent refuse that is our shared existence at the moment, last week’s Creature Feature was themed “Garbage.”

Trash Crab

The Creature Feature started with this delightful creature, suggested by Twitch user Nipplepotomus. It reminds me a little of the Mimic-style toenail jar I drew a couple Features back. At least one creature in this world is thrilled about the abundance of rubbish there is to consume.

Shrimp Pimp

This one, suggested by Twitch user Timochet, veered away from the Garbage theme a bit, but it’s in keeping with Twitch chat’s obsession with me drawing crustaceans. As a wise man once said, shrimping ain’t easy. (Forrest Gump, maybe?)

Biblically Accurate Robber Baron

As far as Garbage goes? This one tracks. Bonus points, because it has chat’s other favorite meme, which is me putting lots of eyeballs on things.

The FancySchmancy Creature is a live drawing show every Saturday morning around 10am EST on Twitch. Each week, I play an eldritch scholar from the watery underworld, drawing the infinite creatures of the multiverse. I pick a theme, chat gives me prompts, and the Abyssal Bestiary picks which prompts to draw. One of them could be yours!

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Frigid

It’s March in New England, which means winter has yet to wane. I spent a few icy days in Boston for a trade show a couple of weeks ago, so it felt reasonable to make the word “Frigid” the theme for the Creature Feature afterwards. Here were the results:

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Frigid

If my avatar were married, this might be his wife’s mom, sure. And who knows, even if she is a little frigid, I like to think they get along.

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Frigid

Leave it to my Twitch chat to suggest something foot-related. But it gave me the idea for this amiable mimic who delights in nothing more than savoring your toenail clippings. How is it frigid, you may ask? I don’t know, maybe toenail clippings last longer in the fridge.

Also, isn’t weird that we grow toenails at all? Fingernails I understand, like they’re useful for picking and clawing and whatnot. But toenails feel superfluous, just there to grow fungus and slice your socks up. Anyway, I digress.

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Frigid

This one was simply based off the word “snot.” In a faraway dimension, there’s a world in which the winged nose harpies flock to more frigid climates to avoid seasonal allergies. While they can weather it with rosy ardor, their snotty offspring fair worse. However, as the nose harpy is one of this world’s apex predators, no one has the courage to let them know they’ve got clingers. So their ice-booger progeny often linger in the nostrils well into adolescence.

I don’t know what I’m writing anymore.

Dwarven Marmoset (Grewsumgary)

In their frozen world, the Dwarven Marmoset clans are the last defense against the ice serpents of the Eternal Tempest. They are known for their ferocity in battle, as well as being just so goddamn cute.

Ice-Fanged Shower Griffin (Nipplepotomus)

Based on the prompt “Shower” by Nipplepotomus. The ice-fanged shower griffin is the natural predator of Twitch chatters who refuse to take the initiative to bathe, instead relying on the streamer to coax them into proper hygiene. Not naming names here.

Join me most Saturdays around 10am EST live on Twitch to submit your prompts and watch me draw more pages in the Bestiary.

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature: Angler Fish

A couple of weeks ago I finished playing the game Outer Wilds, in which angler fish play an outsized and terrifying role. Simultaneously, a black seadevil captivated the world by rearing its beautiful head from the depths, making its way to the surface for unknown (and for some, portending) reasons.

So I thought, what better subject for our weekly FancySchmancy Creature Feature than this fiercely fanged hellspawn?

As always, friends in chat provided me with prompts, and the Bestiary in which we draw selected them at random. Here were the results.

Angler Fish with Lips (CeruleanOak)

This is what I imagine a male angler fish sees right before it merges with the female’s flesh for eternity (look it up).

Angler Fish Bandit (CeruleanOak)

This one charmed me. I like to imagine that this is what Bluey sees when she casts one of her imaginative spells on her dad.

Angler Fish Balatro Card (MrByte)

I’m a big fan of Balatro, and it’s fun to imagine what powers this Joker might imbue for your deck. Maybe it lures you into playing a strong hand that it then destroys. Not advantageous, but it feels on brand for the game.

Angler Fish on a Bicycle (PrincessPJs)

I literally cursed the moment I had to draw any sort of vehicle, but as it turns out, drawing a penny farthing isn’t so bad. Plus, look how happy he is.

Angler Fish Merman

Finally, we drew a merman with an angler fish head, or as I like to call him, a mermgler. In my head canon, this is exactly what Poseidon looks like.

The FancySchmancy Creature Feature happens on Twitch most Saturdays at 10am EST. I play FancySchmancy, an eldritch scholar on an academic quest to draw an infinite set of bestiaries, chronicling every creature in the multiverse. Each week I pick a theme, chat gives me prompts, and the bestiary picks which prompts to draw. Join me for a chance to have your prompt drawn.