DeepSeek: Northeastern Leaders Explain the Confusion and Excitement
After the launch of the new large language model DeepSeek disrupted the AI landscape, our Executive Director Usama Fayyad and Director of AI + Life Sciences Sam Scarpino sat down to explore the groundbreaking release and its impact across business, research, academia, and more.
In their conversation, the two discussed what DeepSeek is, the reasoning behind the chaos in the market, and why Fayyad believes the situation is a “good wake-up call” that needed to happen sooner rather than later.
“Despite all the fears and the shock that came with DeepSeek, and whatever the reasons are to be afraid of it, to embrace it, to use it, to modify it, I just believe that this is a good thing,” Fayyad said. “We, as scientists, totally believe in openness. Having many ideas, many approaches, and seeing what really works. In the end, it's not about hiding behind, ‘Well, you don't have access to the way I do things.’ It's about basically addressing all the possibilities. It will make us all smarter.”
Fayyad and Scarpino also explored the benefits of smaller language models, the importance of open source in AI innovation, the need for Responsible AI practices, and the ways the Institute for Experiential AI guides partners through the rapid AI evolution with training, custom solutions, and more.
“One thing we've learned over the past year and a half working with companies and organizations to build custom generative AI solutions is that fine-tuning these giant models sometimes works well, but it often ends up hallucinating in even more unpredictable ways,” Scarpino said. “Thinking about what DeepSeek has done and what the [open source] community has started to build, it really changes what is possible with respect to building small models.”
Watch the full video to get answers to important questions around DeepSeek and AI, including:
- What is DeepSeek? Why did it cause such confusion and excitement?
- Is DeepSeek truly open source? What is the significance of that?
- What are the benefits of small language models and how do they change the AI landscape?
- How critical is data when it comes to using AI?
- How can you use AI safely? What is the importance of Responsible AI?
How The Institute for Experiential AI empowers businesses in the AI era
In their talk, Fayyad and Scarpino also discussed how our institute helps businesses prepare for, and take advantage of, the latest AI developments.
“We have a whole team that's ready to work with you,” Fayyad said. “Most of the art of doing AI is, ‘How do I make these simple algorithms that are knowledge-free and very robotic actually function in a complex business context where you have realistic conditions?’ The data is not clean, one third of the data may be missing, and half of what's there may be wrong or has errors in it. How do you function in that world? We're very interested in that, because we think it yields great research.”
With decades of experience across healthcare, life sciences, finance, insurance, telecommunications, climate, and more, our leading experts partner with organizations to help them navigate and thrive in a complex AI landscape.
“We really like to be out there delivering and developing with our partners,” Scarpino added. “If you're excited, if you want to learn more, if you're looking for educational opportunities, we can teach you a lot about artificial intelligence and making good decisions. We’re hoping to hear from you and we’re excited to work together.”
Connect with us to learn about our tailored training, cutting-edge solutions, and Responsible AI advisory.
