What is DeepSeek and why is everyone so excited?

January 28, 2025
3
minutes to read
by
Justin Bohlmann

Given Thriday was a pioneer in the use of AI for business finance we have a keen interest in the latest and greatest AI technologies. When it comes to improving productivity for small business owners at a fraction of the cost... well yes, DeepSeek is a talking point for us!

What is DeepSeek?

DeepSeek R1 a powerful, cost-efficient artificial intelligence system. Think of it as a highly advanced assistant trained to understand and generate human-like text, solve problems, search for and analyse data and generally make your life easier. …but with two big twists:

  1. It’s cheap to run – Most LLM's or AI cost many millions to build (like ChatGPT), but DeepSeek’s brain was built for way less money, using older computer parts. You can try https://chat.deepseek.com/ for free. The API is a whopping ~90% cheaper than openAI.
  2. It explains its answers – If you ask it a question, it can show how it thinks so you understand how it got the answer. This is important because it gives you a lot more confidence in the accuracy of the output.

Why should people be excited about DeepSeek?

  • You can afford it – It’s like getting chatGPT for free. Not quite as many features yet but super high quality output.
  • It’s open source and available to everyone – Think of it like a recipe that anyone can use, tweak, or improve (not locked behind a big company’s doors).
  • It works with older tech – You don’t need the newest, most expensive gadgets to use it.

Let’s take the idea of studying competitors but we’ll study Thriday instead.

I took all of our reviews from https://www.thriday.com.au/reviews (52,014 characters excluding spaces)

And said “analyse the following reviews from Thriday and tell me why people love it?”

And here's some of the output:

Thriday’s popularity stems from its ability to simplify financial management for small businesses through automation, affordability, and an intuitive design. By combining banking, accounting, invoicing, and tax tools into one platform—paired with exceptional customer support—it reduces stress, saves time, and empowers users to focus on growing their businesses. The recurring sentiment? "A game-changer" and "why didn’t this exist sooner?

After 2 minutes of effort you've got to be pretty happy with that output.

Now imagine turning this into social media posts, blogs, emails.

This is only scratching the surface.

Any small business can use this immediately, for free!

What can it do for a small business?

Let’s say you own a coffee shop, a tiny clothing store, or a local service. Here’s how DeepSeek could help, at a fraction of the cost of other platforms:

  1. 24/7 customer support – Like a chatbot that answers questions (“When do you close?”) or helps fix problems (“how do I… ”).
  2. Write ads or emails – It can draft social media posts, flyers, or newsletters in minutes.
  3. Track inventory – Predict how much coffee or stock you’ll need next week to avoid waste.
  4. Review documents– Automatically read invoices, contracts, or receipts and give you an overview of key points or clauses.
  5. Translate languages – Help customers who speak Mandarin, Spanish, etc.
  6. Hire staff – Help write job ads or sort through resumes.
  7. Study competitors – Tell you what other businesses are doing well (or poorly).
  8. Learn from feedback – Analyse reviews to see what customers love or hate.

Why does this matter?

  • It’s cheap: Think of it like hiring a super-smart assistant for cents on the dollar.
  • It’s transparent: If it makes a mistake, you can see why it messed up.
  • No tech wizardry needed: You don’t need a fancy computer to use it.

Once business start using DeepSeek and the price starts coming down everywhere AI will become ubiquitous and it will absolutely change your life.

If you're using Thriday it's already happening and you don't even see it!

DISCLAIMER: Team Thrive Pty Ltd ABN 15 637 676 496 (Thriday) is an authorised representative (No.1297601) of Regional Australia Bank ABN 21 087 650 360 AFSL 241167 (Regional Australia Bank). Regional Australia Bank is the issuer of the transaction account and debit card available through Thriday. Any information provided by Thriday is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether Thriday is appropriate for you. Team Thrive No 2 Pty Ltd ABN 26 677 263 606 (Thriday Accounting) is a Registered Tax Agent (No.26262416).

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