On Jan. 20, DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence start-up created by Liang Wenfeng in 2023, released its new model, DeepSeek R1. Within the week, the app was able to top charts, beating out OpenAI’s ChatGPT for the most downloaded free app in the U.S. on Apple’s App Store.
DeepSeek’s rapid rise has led to comparisons with ChatGPT, which has been a key player in the AI space since its launch in November 2022. While both models function as AI chatbots, students have noted key differences in their performance, accuracy and accessibility.
“I tested out [American Invitational Math Exam] questions on both of them,” said sophomore Sofia Johari. “They both failed question number 15, but for question number one, DeepSeek actually got it correct, and ChatGPT was off by a couple hundred.”
Following the release of DeepSeek, several tech stocks experienced a noticeable dip in value. According to Reuters, Nvidia dropped just under 17%, losing almost $593 billion. Microsoft saw a 2.1% decrease, while Alphabet, Google’s parent company, fell by 4.2%. The rise of DeepSeek has also ignited discussions on the competitive nature of AI development between China and the U.S..
“A lot of Americans are stuck in an oppositional attitude towards China,” said English teacher Gregory McGarry. “And a lot of American companies are focused on playing into that because they want to keep their shareholders happy. [DeepSeek] originates from China, [so] a lot of American media is going to try to fearmonger about it. They like to build up hysteria. We should evaluate the tools just on how they function, and not on country of origin.”
As with other AI tools, concerns have emerged over data privacy and potential government surveillance, especially with DeepSeek being a Chinese-developed product.
“It’s a valid concern,” said senior Alex Jiang. “But in the U.S., the government has also been taking your data and can take it from ChatGPT. So if you’re scared about getting your data leaked, then at some point you should just not use the internet, because using the internet means all your data is online. It could be a concern, but I wouldn’t really take it too seriously that DeepSeek is going to leak your data to the Chinese [Communist Party] or anything.”
However, the role of AI in education is complex. While it presents new opportunities for learning and efficiency, it also challenges traditional academic practices.
“[When I’m studying], sometimes Google doesn’t give me the answer I want,” Johari said. “With AI, I can just modify my query a little bit and it’ll give me exactly what I need. AI is an amazing tool, but the problem is that if you can reliably get AI to write your essay for you and it’s a good, solid essay, then maybe the education system needs to change so that we learn how to use AI to get what we want out of it, rather than just doing everything on our own.”
While some students view AI as an invaluable tool for studying, teachers worry about the ethical implications of relying too heavily on it.
“Frankly, I’m not interested in using any of these tools,” McGarry said. “So [many] of the benefits from research and development of ideas comes from thinking things through, and shortcuts for that type of stuff are not really interesting.”
As AI continues to integrate deeper into daily lives, competition between companies like DeepSeek and OpenAI will continue. The balance between technological progress and ethical considerations will be crucial in shaping the future of AI.
