Sense and Sensibility in the age of Reasoning AI

The interwebs have been abuzz with the release of DeekSeep-R1, a competitor to OpenAI o1 reasoning model. As is usual with this market, plenty of hype and hysteria dominate the airwaves. I want to take a step back, put a product manager (and amateur historian) hat on, and draw some parallels to the past and sensible projections to the future.

The short version is that, just like the novel by Austen, we should exercise some balance between sense (reason) and sensibility (emotion). Leaning into either booster or doomer perspectives is counter productive. Like Stockdale, confronting reality is the key to success. In this case, things will play out rather predictably mediocre.

This post deals with the predictability of how the DeepSeek saga will play out, the practicalities required of product managers, and the very relevant lessons that a two hundred year old novel about romance and feelings can teach about it all.

Read it in full on Sense and Sensibility in the age of Reasoning AI.