DeepSeek-R1: How AI is Learning to Think Like Humans

Apart from my design, technology, and farming knowledge, I read a lot about financial markets. On January 27th, there was a market bloodbath in global markets, which triggered me to find out the reason. The cause was DeepSeek-R1 AI. This led me to spend a lot of time understanding what this AI is all about. I came across a research paper published by DeepSeek company, and I wanted to simplify its summary in this article.

DeepSeek: The AI Startup Challenging Tech Giants with Cost-Effective Innovation

DeepSeek, founded in May 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, is a Chinese AI startup that has rapidly emerged as a significant player in the artificial intelligence landscape. Liang, who previously established the successful hedge fund High-Flyer Capital, leveraged his expertise and resources to propel DeepSeek's advancements. Notably, the company developed an AI model comparable to OpenAI's ChatGPT with a budget of less than $6 million, a fraction of the investment by its Western counterparts. This achievement underscores DeepSeek's innovative approach to AI development, focusing on cost-effective methods and open-source collaboration. The company's success has challenged the prevailing notion that only large tech firms with vast financial resources can dominate the AI field, highlighting the potential for smaller startups to make significant contributions.

What is DeepSeek-R1?

DeepSeek-R1 is an advanced AI model designed to improve reasoning skills. Unlike previous AI models that rely on vast amounts of human-labeled data, DeepSeek-R1 learns primarily through experience—similar to how humans learn from trial and error. The model goes through different training stages to become better at solving problems, answering questions, and reasoning logically.

How Does It Work?

DeepSeek-R1 follows a two-step learning approach:

1. DeepSeek-R1-Zero: The first version of the model learns purely through Reinforcement Learning (RL). This means it figures out patterns and solutions without any human guidance. However, this approach sometimes leads to strange or confusing results, like mixing different languages in its responses.
2. DeepSeek-R1 (Final Version): To refine the model, researchers added a small amount of human-curated data to improve readability and accuracy. This extra step helped the model become more structured and human-like in its responses.

Why is This Important?

AI models like DeepSeek-R1 can significantly impact various fields by:

• Solving complex problems: It can tackle tricky math problems, write high-quality code, and even generate logical arguments.
• Enhancing education: AI with reasoning abilities can assist students in learning by explaining concepts more clearly.
• Boosting AI assistants: Smarter AI chatbots and virtual assistants can provide better responses and understand user needs more effectively.
• Improving software development: AI can help developers by reviewing code and providing solutions for complex programming issues.

How Does DeepSeek-R1 Compare to Other AI Models?

DeepSeek-R1 competes with some of the best AI models available, including OpenAI’s GPT series. In tests, it performed exceptionally well in reasoning tasks, sometimes even surpassing OpenAI’s models in math and problem-solving. However, it still struggles in some areas, like producing well-structured long-form answers.

The Future of AI Reasoning

The researchers behind DeepSeek-R1 plan to make AI even better by:

• Expanding its ability to understand and generate responses in multiple languages.
• Improving how it follows complex instructions.
• Enhancing its skills in software engineering and other technical tasks.

Final Thoughts

DeepSeek-R1 represents a big step toward making AI more intelligent and human-like in its thinking. As AI continues to evolve, models like this will play a crucial role in making technology more useful and accessible for everyone. The future of AI reasoning is bright, and we are just getting started!

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