Artificial intelligent chatbots have shaken the world quite a bit over the last few months. Even more so in the last few days since the emergence of the latest AI called DeepSeek. Bigshot tech corporations have certainly been shaken a bit to say the least. So, what is the big deal with DeepSeek?
Really, what is all the fuss about?
For one thing, DeepSeek’s R1 model is a reasoning model that many find similar to human reasoning responses. This model is accessible for the users and they can experience first-hand how the AI is thinking and processing the responses in real time.
Another reason why the newest chatbot has made such a noise is probably because DeepSeek says it cost around $6 Million, which when compared to Open AI’s $100 Million seems barely a fraction. DeepSeek is said to use less memory, which makes it cheaper and did we mention that it is open source? Which means developers can easily use and implement the AI model and improve their own models. Deep seek uses limited computing resources and processes response comparatively faster.
But how is DeepSeek for the average user? For convenience and thinking about the average user in Bangladesh, we tried the mobile application for three AI chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini and DeepSeek) and here are how they stand.
The user interface: On first-time use, ChatGPT appeared to be more user friendly than DeepSeek. Both app requires you to sign up in order for the user to start their journey and both allows the user to login quickly using their google accounts. Gemini also had a user-friendly interface. However, it’s the home screen or greet screen where one can see the difference.
ChatGPT greets the user by asking ‘What can I help with?’ and then a number of icons are available which can be used as shortcuts for actions such as- creating image, summarization, coding, brainstorming etc.
DeepSeek greets the user by introducing itself. ‘Hi, I am DeepSeek. How can I help you today?’ but there are no shortcuts on the greet screen.
Gemini also greets you similarly but it also falls behind ChatGPT in terms of user interface. For first time and casual users, ChatGPT is definitely easier.
Blackbox vs Open: One of the reasons why DeepSeek has gained such attention is because of its transparency, meaning it shows the user in real time how it is thinking and how its logical reasoning is working while generating the answers. ChatGPT on the other hand has no such features. It’s what one would call a ‘Blackbox’ system.
When asked about its system, Gemini was opting for less definite answer. Gemini describes itself as a grey box, stating that it depends on whose point of view you are taking. So, to make long conversation short; Gemini is also a Blackbox for the user.
If you are trying to analyse data or working on something that requires logical reasoning approach, this feature of DeepSeek can be immensely helpful. It is of particular interest to researchers and data scientists.
Versatility: While both ChatGPT and DeepSeek were able to carry conversations forward quite smoothly, the DeepSeek app seemed to be held back in a few areas. This AI was still missing the feature to generate images on cue, while ChatGPT was ready to generate image as soon as you opened the app. ChatGPT was also able to listen and reply, meaning one could use ChatGPT using audio cues without having to type out everything. The DeepSeek app was still lacking this feature.
Gemini was able to register voice smoothly and respond with ease. But it also lacked the ability to generate images on demand.
Free or not: One of the biggest advantages of DeepSeek is that it is free. The user can continue to use and converse with the AI without any time limit while ChatGPT reminds you after a while that your free session has expired. This can be annoying and turn off for many people. Casual users might not find this as a big issue but those who are using the AI for serious tasks such as academic work or research might find that costing is an issue.
Gemini is also free for personal use but requires a subscription fee for advanced features.
Overall experience: ChatGPT seemed faster and more articulate in some instances but this might not be a fair comparison since DeepSeek has been facing a heavy wave of users and their servers can only handle so much.
That being said, it was taking quite some time to upload images and files on the DeepSeek app while ChatGPT was uploading them with ease.
Again, this might be a server lag or internet issues but ChatGPT was handling file related issues much better than DeepSeek. The response time was also faster on ChatGPT compared to DeepSeek.
User experience for Gemini was quite average. It could perform the average task but there were some limitations such as- inability to upload document file on the app for analysis or generate image on demand. Gemini’s responses were too much machine like and quite tedious. For every response the AI was dragging out the answers and insisting on using bullet points which might be helpful for many users and their academic tasks but for more advanced tasks seems a bit colourless.
Just for fun, we asked all three AI bots to write this very article and they each wrote an article which was an interesting read as a homework for this article and gave the writer a pretty idea about how each AI thinks and which one is better for what task.
ChatGPT is more articulate and has a better understanding of languages. DeepSeek has a more natural feeling response. It feels more colourful. And Gemini is missing that colourful touch with much more robotic response.
So, which one is for you?
The choice depends on your need and how much time you have. We have discussed our first-hand first-time user experience for you so you may get a general idea about these two AI and their uses. Assess your needs; evaluate what sort of assistance you are expecting from an AI and then you can easily decide which AI is better suited for you.