Duolingo's Owl Has Three Eyes, and Users Want to Know When It Grew the Third

If you've had Duolingo on your phone for any length of time, you're likely aware that the creators of the app can get pretty creative with how they depict the owl that has become their de facto mascot. If you don't use the app for long enough, the owl will slowly melt and eventually die, a reminder to you of your own failures.

Now, though, some have noticed that the app's owl has a third eye and want to know what the reason for that change might be. Here's what we know.

Duolingo doesn't always explain the changes that it makes to its app, so it can sometimes be difficult to figure out exactly what's going on. While the company has not said anything, it has been dealing recently with backlash to the news that it was moving to an "AI first" model where artificial intelligence would gradually replace the contract workers that it uses to support the app's language services.

The three eyes come as Duolingo has also deleted many of its posts across various social media accounts, including TikTok and Instagram, and replaced them with a cryptic message in their bio that says “gonefornow123,” alongside a set of two dead roses and three eye emojis in the bio description. On X (formerly Twitter), the company also posted a cryptic message, writing “real eyes realize real lies,” followed by another set of three eye emojis.

It's clear, then, the three eyes is a symbol for something, and that Duolingo is preparing for some sort of major overhaul. It's unclear, though, whether this is connected to the pretty furious backlash that the company's AI announcement received.

It's possible that this is the formal rollout of its AI offering, or that the company decided to pivot as many users vowed to boycott the app over its AI adoption.

According to reporting from AdWeek, a spokesperson for DuoLingo said that the company is trying a new social media posture. “Let’s just say we’re experimenting with silence. Sometimes, the best way to make noise is to disappear first," they explained.

Although we still don't know exactly what that means, or what's coming, it seems that the marketing team inside the company is gearing up for something big.

Ultimately, then, the three-eyed logo is some sort of marketing stunt. We don't yet know what the stunt is going to be far, but it does seem like a pretty bad time for DuoLingo to be trying to get its users excited about a new product. The AI backlash has been rather widespread and severe, especially because it's an actual example of AI taking jobs away from real people.

DuoLingo's marketing stunt has been enough to get some people interested. What remains to be seen, though, is whether all the users who vow that they're leaving the app for good will actually decide to do so.