LV

Luis von Ahn

25quotes
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Duolingo, the language-learning company co-founded by Luis von Ahn, stands as one of the more prominent ventures to emerge from his work as a computer scientist and university teacher.

Von Ahn was born on August 19, 1978, in Guatemala City, and holds Guatemalan citizenship. He attended the American School of Guatemala before pursuing higher education abroad, first at Duke University and then at Carnegie Mellon University. Earlier in his career he founded reCAPTCHA, a project that preceded Duolingo and helped establish his standing in the field. That work, alongside his role as a university teacher and computer scientist, formed the foundation on which his later recognition rested.

The honors that followed were numerous. Von Ahn received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, a Sloan Fellowship, a Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering, and the Faculty Early Career Development Award. He also received the Lemelson–MIT Prize, the Grace Murray Hopper Award, the MacArthur Fellows Program award, the Innovators Under 35 award, and the Guatemaltecos Ilustres award. Taken together, these distinctions reflect sustained acknowledgment from institutions across science, engineering, and technology.

As co-founder and CEO of Duolingo, von Ahn continues to lead the company he helped build. His induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame offers a concrete measure of how his contributions, stretching from reCAPTCHA to Duolingo, have been assessed by the scientific and engineering community.

Quotes by Luis von Ahn

Before the Internet, coordinating more than 100,000 people, let alone paying them, was essentially impossible. But now with the Internet, I’ve just shown you a project where we’ve gotten 750 million people to help us digitize human knowledge.
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Before the Internet, coordinating more than 100,000 people, let alone paying them, was essentially impossible. But now with the Internet, I’ve just shown you a project where we’ve gotten 750 million people to help us digitize human knowledge.
LV
I watch a lot of TV. That’s how I spend most of my time outside of work. If I had more time, I would fill it 100 percent with watching TV.
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I watch a lot of TV. That’s how I spend most of my time outside of work. If I had more time, I would fill it 100 percent with watching TV.
LV
The current business model for language education is the student pays – in particular, the student pays Rosetta Stone $500. The problem with this business model is that 95 percent of the world’s population doesn’t have $500.
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The current business model for language education is the student pays – in particular, the student pays Rosetta Stone $500. The problem with this business model is that 95 percent of the world’s population doesn’t have $500.
LV
My ultimate research goal is to transform our human existence to just eating, sleeping, drinking, playing – nevermind.
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My ultimate research goal is to transform our human existence to just eating, sleeping, drinking, playing – nevermind.
LV
People are good at figuring out what’s attractive, and computers are good at quickly searching and finding. You put them together, and bang!
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People are good at figuring out what’s attractive, and computers are good at quickly searching and finding. You put them together, and bang!
LV
Before the Internet, coordinating more than 100,000 people, let alone paying them, was essentially impossible. But now with the Internet, I've just shown you a project where we've gotten 750 million people to help us digitize human knowledge.
"
Before the Internet, coordinating more than 100,000 people, let alone paying them, was essentially impossible. But now with the Internet, I've just shown you a project where we've gotten 750 million people to help us digitize human knowledge.
LV
#technology
The question that motivates my research is, if we can put a man on the Moon with 100,000 [people], what can we do with 100 million?
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The question that motivates my research is, if we can put a man on the Moon with 100,000 [people], what can we do with 100 million?
LV
#technology
[Captchas] are not only annoying, but they kill 10 seconds of your time.
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[Captchas] are not only annoying, but they kill 10 seconds of your time.
LV
#annoying
Every time you buy tickets on Ticketmaster, you help to digitize a book.
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Every time you buy tickets on Ticketmaster, you help to digitize a book.
LV
#technology
The current business model for language education is the student pays — in particular, the student pays Rosetta Stone $500. The problem with this business model is that 95 percent of the world’s population doesn’t have $500.
"
The current business model for language education is the student pays — in particular, the student pays Rosetta Stone $500. The problem with this business model is that 95 percent of the world’s population doesn’t have $500.
LV
#stones
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