Trump’s tariffs have been cast in the media as the opening shots of a trade war. Perhaps this was inevitable—after all, US-China trade relations had long ceased to be a win-win game. The latest tremor? The rise of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI start-up developed at a fraction of the cost of its US counterparts. News of its success sent shockwaves through Wall Street, wiping a staggering trillion dollars off the Nasdaq-100.
For investors, DeepSeek’s emergence was unsettling. For China, it was a triumph. As Hong Kong-based venture capitalist Jennifer Zhu Scott put it in the Financial Times, “DeepSeek’s success undermines the barriers that have been created in the US-China tech war.” The start-up’s achievement was particularly significant because its technology was developed entirely by Chinese university graduates—none of its scientists had attended US universities.
Zhu Scott went further, arguing that DeepSeek’s impact extended beyond geopolitics. Its “decision to release a low-cost, open-sourced AI model, alongside detailed disclosure of its training methods, means that everyone—from researchers in São Paulo to start-ups in Stockholm and doctors in Nairobi—can access state-of-the-art AI at little to no cost.”
Intrigued, I decided to test DeepSeek myself.
A quick grammar test
At the time, I was reading an article on sustainable tourism when a sentence made me pause: “Public transport, cycling, or walking in cities is even better for the environment.”
Something felt off. Shouldn’t it be: “Using public transport, cycling, or walking in cities is even better for the environment”? A vague memory of the grammar rule of parallelism suggested that the opening word should match “cycling” and “walking” in form.
I put the question to DeepSeek.
Within seconds, it confirmed my suspicion:
“The sentence, ‘Using public transport, cycling, or walking in cities is even better for the environment,’ is generally considered better for a few reasons:
“Clarity and flow: The sentence uses a gerund phrase (‘Using…’) as the subject, which makes the structure smoother and more direct.
“Emphasis: The gerund phrase puts more focus on the action rather than just listing the modes of transport, making the message slightly more impactful.”
ChatGPT and Google’s AI chatbot, Gemini, gave the same answer. Clearly, DeepSeek knew its English grammar as well as its American competitors.
But does it have taste?
Grammar is the drillmaster of language, laying down rules for structure. But what sets one writer apart from another is an instinct for words—what might be called taste.
Could DeepSeek demonstrate literary sensitivity?
I put it to the test with a poem: Another Valentine by British poet Wendy Cope. With Valentine’s Day approaching, it seemed fitting:
Today we are obliged to be romantic
And think of yet another valentine.
We know the rules and we are both pedantic:
Today’s the day we have to be romantic.
Our love is old and sure, not new and frantic.
You know I’m yours and I know you are mine.
And saying that has made me feel romantic,
My dearest love, my darling valentine.
DeepSeek’s analysis? “This poem is a celebration of enduring love and the power of tradition to rekindle affection. Through its structured form and repetition, it captures the journey from obligation to genuine emotion, highlighting the comfort and certainty of a long-term relationship. The playful yet sincere tone makes it both relatable and touching, offering a refreshing perspective on love that is steady rather than frantic.”
It even identified the poem’s form: “The poem is a triolet, a French verse form with eight lines and a specific rhyme scheme (ABaAabAB). It uses repetition to emphasize its themes.”
Not bad. DeepSeek showed its ability to appreciate a poem.
Can it be creative?
To test its creativity, I asked it to write a funny four-line poem about a news website. Within moments, it produced this:
Breaking News
Refresh, refresh, the headlines scream,
Each click confirms my doom-scroll dream.
From cats to wars, it’s all a mess—
The ads outnumber the news, I guess.
Wry, succinct, and amusing. DeepSeek wasn’t just grammatical and literary—it had a flair for wit.
But what did its American rivals think of their Chinese counterpart? I asked Gemini to compose a four-line poem about DeepSeek. Here’s what it came up with:
DeepSeek, oh DeepSeek, so clever and grand,
Can write you a poem, or lend a hand.
But ask it to cook, or fix your old car,
And DeepSeek might just send you straight to the bar.
Ha! Gemini couldn’t resist a dig at DeepSeek. Whatever you think of AI chatbots, they can sure be catty like humans.