ChatGPT Vs DeepSeek: Raging Digital Warfare Envelops World

What are the things that are happening, and changing public discourse?  A good number of people whom I talked to said that a hot topic people talk about is President Donald Trump’s second term as the US President and how it will be unveiled in the coming days, months, and years. These are the people mostly businessmen linked with the US or parents whose children are living in the US on short-term visas, or people dabbling in the complex space of finance or the stock market, who want to know how much the rupee fell against the dollar and how much it will slide in the coming days.

Surprisingly, that was not the top subject gaining currency for a good number of people I spoke to. Most of the people, particularly the techie guys and students are involved in the debate of ChatGPT vs DeepSeek. People pursuing cerebral avocations want to know: first the difference between the two and, second which one is better.  Interestingly, some people who must write a letter, representation to government agencies, or prepare a thesis or dissertation use ChatGPT to get an edge in their writing. They want to know which is better: ChatGPT or DeepSeek.

I have dealt with ChatGPT in this column a few times and do not intend to deal with it now. But, let me dwell on DeepSeek, which was launched recently. Though DeepSeek captured headlines, no one knows precisely what it is and how it is an improvisation over the ChatGPT, which has been on an innovation trail.  Like me, most people may have only read about it in newspaper columns or videos that depict what it can.

But a few advantages of the free AI-powered chatbot DeepSeek, which looks, feels, and works very much like ChatGPT are in the public domain. People familiar with its operations say it can be used as ChatGPT. It is reportedly as powerful as OpenAI's o1 model - released end of last year and can undertake tasks including mathematics and coding.

Besides, people familiar with its work say it has more reasoning power and produces responses incrementally, simulating how humans reason through problems or ideas. The other claim is that it is available freely, and researchers behind it claim it cost US $6M to train, a fraction of the "over $100M" alluded to by OpenAI boss Sam Altman when discussing GPT-4. That is the reason why DeepSeek has outweighed all other platforms in downloading from Play store

Despite the geopolitical pulls and pressure with its advent, President Donald Trump welcomed the Chinese innovation calling it a great innovation and a game changer. But many interpret Trump’s salutary words about DeepSeek a wake-up call for the American tech giants. Incidentally, major tech companies in the US shaved off their values in the stock market mayhem that happened with the Chinese announcement of DeepSeek.

 There are other interpretations that the Chinese released this innovation to convey signals to Washington that it could strike back when the shoe pinches. China also wanted to amplify that it can minimize the impact of US restrictions on the most powerful chips reaching China.  DeepSeek’s founder reportedly built up a store of Nvidia A100 chips, which have been banned from export to China since September 2022. Some experts believe he paired these chips with cheaper, less sophisticated ones - ending up with a much more efficient process.

Like many other Chinese AI models - Baidu's Ernie or Doubao by ByteDance - DeepSeek is trained to avoid politically sensitive questions unlike Google, which can give all shades of opinions.  It is reported that when someone asked a question about what happened in Tiananmen Square on 4 June 1989, DeepSeek did not give any details about the massacre, a taboo topic in China, which is subject to government censorship.

Let me now come to the point that I want to flag. I find a lot of literature that is coming out these days is AI-driven. One can make out from the language used which is more synthetic and less natural. I do not know how much that will affect creativity when people seek the help of these tools, while doing simple changes in the narratives or solving mathematical puzzles or coding, the basic operation in software development.

That takes me to my younger days. In the primary classes, we have been asked to learn multiplication tables. The task was to learn it by heart. That would help us to use it anytime and anywhere. The advent of calculators reduced the relevance of learning multiplication tables by heart. Similarly, computers that have embedded software programs for spelling and grammar auto corrections have reduced the need for correct semantics and spellings impinging on the vocabulary.

How long this can take? Though there is a debate on chaining in AI-powered innovations that can impair creativity and replace the human workforce, such discourses remain wishful thinking. Everyone is glued to know what is the next breakthrough of AI and how long will it take to make a robot that can perform all pursuits a human being can do.

Of course, there are two issues to be reconciled to have a clear strategy to address this problem. One is the human quest to find excellence in technology, which is the sign of power and the best bargaining power in a highly competitive world. The other is global inclusive growth, which lays down normative principles of happiness, the welfare of all, and contentment. Civilizations over millennia chased a reconciliation of both issues. But could not come out with a solution or approximation of a solution. Yet, we have to strive for a solution however naïve or incomplete that may be.