AI Toolbox #10: DeepSeek – You May Have Heard of It, But....!

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What’s It Like Now?

If you have been following artificial intelligence for a while, you may have heard the name DeepSeek.

I first came across it some time ago, and like many people, I was curious about what all the fuss was about.

But AI moves quickly.

So, rather than looking at the DeepSeek that attracted so much attention last year, I thought it was worth taking another look at what DeepSeek has become.

So, what is DeepSeek?

DeepSeek is an AI company that develops large language models and AI tools. Like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok, you can use DeepSeek to have a conversation with an AI, ask questions, get help with writing, solve problems and work with code.

But DeepSeek has also put considerable emphasis on reasoning, coding and AI agents—systems designed to carry out more complicated tasks using tools rather than simply answering one question at a time.

Its models have developed considerably since the original versions that brought it to wider attention.

The company released its V4 model family in 2026, and in September 2026 announced DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash, which adds native visual understanding while focusing on speed and efficiency. (DeepSeek)

So, this isn’t quite the same DeepSeek you may have tried last year.

What can you actually use it for?

For an ordinary user, you don’t need to understand the technical side of DeepSeek to use it.

You can simply ask it questions.

You could ask:

“Explain this subject to me as if I’m a complete beginner.”

Or:

“Rewrite this letter so it sounds friendly but professional.”

Or:

“Give me some ideas for promoting my small business.”

You can also use it for mathematics, problem solving, coding, research and longer, more complicated tasks.

DeepSeek’s recent models have been specifically developed with reasoning and agent capabilities in mind. Its V3.2 release introduced the ability to combine its thinking process with tool use, allowing it to work through multiple steps when tackling certain tasks. (DeepSeek)

DeepSeek and coding

This is an area where DeepSeek has attracted a lot of attention.

If you’re a programmer, DeepSeek can help write, explain and troubleshoot code.

And you don’t necessarily need to be a programmer to find that useful.

Imagine you have a simple website and something isn’t working.

You could give the problem to an AI and ask:

“I don’t understand code. Can you explain what’s wrong and tell me what I need to change?”

That’s very different from simply asking DeepSeek AI to write a computer program from scratch.

It can act more like a translator between you and the technical stuff.

DeepSeek’s 2026 releases have put particular emphasis on agent and coding capabilities, including improvements aimed at software development and other multi-step tasks. (DeepSeek API Documentation)

It can work with images too

This is another area where DeepSeek has moved on.

Earlier DeepSeek models were primarily text-based. The company’s newer V4.1-Flash model has native visual understanding, meaning it can work with visual information as part of the model itself. (DeepSeek API Documentation)

That opens up practical possibilities.

You might give it a screenshot and ask:

“What am I looking at?”

Or show it a chart and ask:

“Explain this to me in simple English.”

Or give it an image containing information and ask it to help interpret what is shown.

Again, the important thing for the ordinary user isn’t how the technology works.

It’s what you can actually do with it.

What made DeepSeek famous?

DeepSeek became a major talking point because its earlier models demonstrated that a relatively new AI company could produce highly capable models while taking a different approach to developing and releasing them.

Its V3 model, released in December 2024, was presented by DeepSeek as an open-source model with strong performance and a focus on efficiency. (DeepSeek)

Then came DeepSeek-R1, which attracted particular attention for its reasoning abilities.

That helped put DeepSeek firmly on the AI map.

But there’s an important lesson here.

Don’t judge today’s AI tools entirely by what you heard about them when they first became famous.

They keep changing.

Is DeepSeek free?

DeepSeek provides a web service and mobile app, as well as an API for developers.

For someone who simply wants to experiment with it, the easiest place to start is the web or app rather than worrying about the technical API side.

The API is a separate service aimed more at developers and businesses building applications with DeepSeek models.

And if you’re not a developer, you can safely ignore that part for now.

So, is DeepSeek another ChatGPT?

In some ways, yes.

You can have a conversation with it, ask questions, get help writing and solve problems.

But that doesn’t mean every AI assistant behaves in exactly the same way.

DeepSeek has developed a particular reputation around reasoning, coding, efficiency and open model development, while its newer models are expanding into visual understanding and more advanced agent-style tasks. (DeepSeek)

That’s exactly why we’re looking at these different AI tools in this series.

You don’t have to use all of them.

You don’t even have to like all of them.

But it’s useful to know what’s available.

My verdict

If you tried DeepSeek last year and haven’t looked at it since, it’s worth taking another look.

The technology has moved on considerably, and the current DeepSeek family is much broader than the version many people first encountered.

For the ordinary user, I’d start simply.

Ask it a question.

Give it a writing task.

Try a reasoning problem.

If you have an image or screenshot, see how it handles that.

And if you’re interested in coding, that’s where you may discover another side of DeepSeek.

You don’t need to become an AI expert.

Just experiment and see whether it is useful to you.

That’s really what this AI Toolbox series is about.

One AI at a time.

The AI Toolbox continues next week…

AI Toolbox #9: Grok – What Makes This AI Different?

​If you have been following the AI Toolbox series, you may have started to notice something.

ChatGPT can answer questions. Claude can write. Gemini can research. Copilot can help with Microsoft products. Perplexity can search the web.

So, when another AI comes along, you might reasonably ask: “What does this one do differently?”

This week, we’re looking at Grok, the AI assistant developed by xAI.

And yes, Grok can do many of the things the other big AI assistants can do. But there are a few things that make it worth knowing about.

So, what exactly is Grok?

Grok is an AI assistant available on the web, iPhone and Android. You can use it to ask questions, write and rewrite text, research subjects, analyse documents, create images and videos, write code and even have a voice conversation with it. (SpaceXAI)

It is available to try for free, although paid SuperGrok plans provide higher usage limits and additional features. (SpaceXAI)

So far, nothing sounds particularly unusual.

Here’s where it gets more interesting.

Grok can search what is happening now

One of Grok’s biggest selling points is its connection to real-time web search and X.

Instead of relying only on information it was trained on, Grok can search the web and X for current information. That can be useful when you’re asking about something that has happened recently—a news story, a developing event, a current trend or what people are saying about a particular subject. (SpaceXAI)

Of course, real-time information doesn’t automatically mean correct information.

Grok can still get things wrong, and information circulating on social media can be wrong too. So if something is important, check the original source.

But having live search built into the assistant is certainly useful.

It can see, hear and create

Grok isn’t limited to text.

You can upload things such as PDFs, spreadsheets, images, screenshots and code for it to analyse. You can also talk to Grok using voice rather than typing everything. (Grok API Documentation)

And then there’s Grok Imagine.

You can use it to create images and videos from text prompts, and you can continue refining the result through the conversation. xAI currently advertises image generation and video generation as part of Grok’s capabilities. (SpaceXAI)

So you could start with:

“Create an image of a small African village at sunset.”

Then ask it to change the weather, the clothing, the viewpoint or the atmosphere without necessarily starting all over again.

That’s becoming increasingly common among AI tools, but having chat, search, image and video creation together makes Grok quite a broad toolbox in its own right.

Now here’s the interesting bit: Grok Build

This is probably the feature that caught my attention most.

Grok Build allows you to describe an app, website, game or interactive dashboard and Grok can build a working version for you.

You don’t have to start by writing computer code.

For example, you could tell Grok:

“Build me a simple website for my book. Include the book description, an author section and a button linking to Amazon.”

Grok Build can create a working version inside the conversation. You can then tell it what you want changed.

“Make the heading bigger.”

“Change the layout.”

“Add a contact section.”

“Make it look more professional.”

According to xAI, Grok Build is now available on every plan, including on the web, iOS and Android. Projects can also be published and shared, and more advanced options include connecting data and exporting projects to GitHub. (SpaceXAI)

Now, I’m not suggesting that everyone reading this is suddenly going to become a software developer.

But this is where AI starts becoming rather interesting for ordinary people.

You don’t necessarily need to know how something is built before asking AI to help you build it.

Could I actually use Grok?

Absolutely.

You could use Grok for something as simple as:

Writing:
“Rewrite this letter so it sounds polite but firm.”

Research:
“Find out what has happened recently with this subject and give me the sources.”

Documents:
“Read this PDF and explain the important points in simple English.”

Ideas:
“Give me ten realistic ideas for a small side business that I could start around my existing job.”

Images:
“Create a realistic image for a Facebook post about my new book.”

Voice:
Talk to Grok instead of typing your question.

Building:
“Create a simple website for my business.”

And if you’re curious about coding, you can go much further.

Grok 4.6 is designed for more complicated, multi-step tasks, including research, coding and building applications. Grok’s more advanced agent capabilities can also break larger jobs into smaller tasks and work on them in parallel. (SpaceXAI)

But do I need another AI?

That’s the question I’ve been asking throughout this series.

The honest answer is: probably not.

You don’t need every AI assistant available.

If you already use ChatGPT and it does everything you need, there may be no reason to move your everyday work to Grok.

But that isn’t really the purpose of the AI Toolbox.

We’re looking at these different tools so that ordinary people can discover what is actually available.

You may find that you prefer one assistant’s way of answering questions. Someone else may prefer another. And a particular tool may have one feature that is especially useful to you.

That’s why it’s worth knowing what’s out there.

Free or paid?

Grok has a free option, so you can try it without immediately paying for a subscription. The current free plan includes access to real-time web and X search and voice mode, although usage is limited. Paid SuperGrok plans provide higher limits and access to additional capabilities. (SpaceXAI)

For someone simply curious about Grok, I’d start with the free version.

There is no point paying for something before you know whether you will actually use it.

My verdict

Grok is certainly more than another chatbot.

Its combination of real-time search, X integration, voice, document analysis, image and video creation, reasoning and Grok Build makes it a fairly broad AI assistant. (SpaceXAI)

But here’s the important bit.

Don’t use Grok simply because it’s Grok.

Try it. Ask it something you actually need help with. Give it a document. Try a voice conversation. Ask it to search for something happening today.

And if you’re feeling adventurous, ask it to build something.

You might be surprised by what happens.

The AI Toolbox continues next week…