With October 15th behind us, Hispanic Heritage Month comes to a close. But the National Hispanic Council on Aging is far from finished with our celebration of Latino Empowerment! This week, we celebrate the incredible accomplishments of renowned inventor and entrepreneur, Luis von Ahn. Perhaps most famous for co-founding Duo Lingo, the app that has become the most used method of learning languages, von Ahn has made a name for himself as an inventor seeking large-scale impact upon the world, and he has clearly done just that!
Born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1978, Luis von Ahn has certainly grown alongside the ever-accelerating technology industry. He credits the candy factory owned by his mother’s family with stirring his curiosity, and the gift of a Commodore 64 personal computer when he was eight with solidifying that curiosity into his chosen career path.
He would eventually travel to the United States for his education, first attending Duke University where he would receive his bachelor’s degree in mathematics, and then Carnegie Mellon university as a graduate researcher, during which time he would earn his master’s and doctorate degrees in computer science. By 2005, von Ahn had already demonstrated the strength of his ambition and capability to meet his goals.
It was also at Carnegie Mellon that von Ahn would achieve his first claim to fame as an inventor and computer scientist. Ever tried to log in to a website and found yourself asked to transcribe squiggly letters and numbers into a text box to prove your humanity? That would be the program known as CAPTCHA, co-created by a team including von Ahn to answer a need for distinguishing bad acting “bots” from real humans. The success was profound, and continues to be present across the internet. Later on, von Ahn would also develop the program, reCAPTCHA, which operated such that every time someone transcribed text to prove they weren’t a bot, they were actually transcribing a small piece of an archived document. As countless people logged in to various websites, they were inadvertently helping to digitize old newspapers, books, and more! reCAPTCHA would eventually be used to help digitize over a century’s worth of the New York Times’ archives.
It was following this innovative project that Luis von Ahn had gained appreciation for positive large-scale impact. Following reCAPTCHA’s sale, he would go on to co-found Duo Lingo, an app that has educated millions of people around the globe with a widely accessible and affordable platform.
Luis von Ahn’s curiosity, creativity, and ambition have become a force for accessible education. Following his impressive years in academia, and equally impressive career, his influence upon society and the world has furthered empowerment through education. The National Hispanic Council on Aging knows all too well how insurmountable a barrier language can be for many, and we applaud any effort to make such barriers surmountable. The intersection of language and education will always lead to empowerment.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month, Luis von Ahn!
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