You may have heard in the news about a relatively new generative AI software out of China known as DeepSeek. Even if you haven’t, the stock market sure did yesterday. So, what’s the big deal? In short, DeepSeek’s quick rise occurred with less advanced hardware and far less investment. Whether or not this is an incremental change in the industry, or a “Sputnik” moment remains to be seen. Regardless, as a fan of trying new EdTech, I decided to see what DeepSeek could do compared to my standard way at work: Google Gemini.
I decided on a topic for which there is a lot of information and on which I know a fair amount: The causes of the Great Depression. I asked both AI models to answer that prompt. I also followed up with each one by asking them to add citations.
Fascinatingly, before I could even type in my prompt, my phone overheard my conversation with my family about what I was about to do, it wrote:
Okay, I’m ready for your comparison and contrast! I’m excited to see what you come up with. To help me understand your perspective better, could you tell me: * What are you comparing and contrasting? (e.g., two different books, two different movies, two different approaches to a problem) * What are the key aspects you’ll be focusing on? (e.g., plot, characters, themes, effectiveness, efficiency) I’m eager to learn from your analysis!
After that slightly scary but very illuminating accidental exchange. I then wrote in my prompts. For the main response, Gemini wrote:
You’re right, adding specifics and citations would make this analysis more robust. Here’s an attempt to do so: 1. Stock Market Crash of 1929: * Speculative Bubble: The stock market in the late 1920s experienced a speculative bubble, fueled by margin buying (borrowing money to buy stocks) and widespread optimism. * Source: “The Great Depression” by Robert McElvaine (p. 37) * Crash: On October 29, 1929 (“Black Tuesday”), the stock market crashed, wiping out billions of dollars in investor wealth. * Source: “The Crash of 1929” by John Kenneth Galbraith (p. 19) 2. Banking Panics and Failures: * Bank Runs: The stock market crash triggered widespread bank runs as panicked depositors withdrew their funds. * Source: “America’s Great Depression” by Christina Romer (p. 42) * Bank Failures: Thousands of banks failed, leading to a sharp contraction in credit availability. * Source: “The Federal Reserve and the Great Depression” by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz (p. 301) 3. Dust Bowl: * Environmental Disaster: The Dust Bowl, a period of severe dust storms in the 1930s, devastated agriculture in the Great Plains. * Source: “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck (depicts the Dust Bowl’s impact) * Economic Impact: Crop failures led to widespread farm foreclosures and rural poverty. * Source: “Hard Times in America: The Great Depression” by Irving Bernstein (p. 125) 4. Overproduction and Underconsumption: * Agricultural Overproduction: The agricultural sector experienced overproduction, leading to falling farm prices and declining incomes. * Source: “The American Economy in Perspective” by Robert J. Gordon (p. 215) * Consumer Demand: Consumer demand failed to keep pace with the increased supply of goods, creating a significant imbalance in the economy. * Source: “The Economics of the Great Depression” by Ben S. Bernanke (p. 35) 5. Smoot-Hawley Tariff: * Protectionism: The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930 significantly increased tariffs on imported goods. * Source: “The Tariff and American Politics: A Documentary History” by William R. Tyler (p. 357) * Impact on Trade: This protectionist measure triggered retaliatory tariffs from other countries, severely restricting international trade. * Source: “The Great Depression and the New Deal” by Eric Hobsbawm (p. 102) 6. Contractionary Monetary Policy: * Federal Reserve Actions: The Federal Reserve pursued a tight monetary policy, raising interest rates and reducing the money supply. * Source: “Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960” by Milton Friedman and Anna Schwartz (p. 598) * Impact on Credit: This policy made borrowing more expensive, hindering economic growth and investment. 7. Government Inaction: * Laissez-Faire Policies: In the early years of the Depression, government intervention was limited, reflecting the prevailing belief in laissez-faire economics. * Source: “The New Deal: A History” by Jonathan Alter (p. 12) Disclaimer: This is a simplified overview, and the causes of the Great Depression are still debated by economists and historians. I hope this more detailed analysis is helpful!
In the case of Gemini, my attempt to make a works cited page was met with a request to change access. When I logged with a different account, my prompts had been erased.
As for DeepSeek’s R1 model, its first response was a bit vague, so I asked it to add more details. Here is what it came up with:
### **Causes of the Great Depression**
The Great Depression (1929–1939) emerged from interconnected structural flaws, policy failures, and global imbalances. Below are the primary causes, supported by specific data and academic references:
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#### **1. Stock Market Crash of 1929**
– **Speculative Bubble**: By 1929, stocks were overvalued by 30–40% relative to earnings (Galbraith, *The Great Crash 1929*). Margin buying—where investors borrowed up to 90% of stock prices—fueled speculation.
– **Crash and Collapse**: The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 381.17 in September 1929 before collapsing to 198.69 by November (Black Thursday/Tuesday, October 24–29). By July 1932, it bottomed at 41.22, erasing 89% of its value (Federal Reserve History).
– **Wealth Destruction**: Household net worth fell by 40% ($206B to $137B) between 1929 and 1933 (Mishkin, *Journal of Economic History*, 1978).
—
#### **2. Banking System Collapse**
– **Bank Runs and Failures**: Over 9,000 banks failed by 1933, wiping out $7B in deposits (FDIC). The 1930 collapse of *Bank of the United States* (with 400,000 depositors) epitomized the crisis.
– **Federal Reserve Inaction**: The Fed raised rates in 1931 to defend the gold standard, worsening deflation. Money supply contracted by 33% (Friedman & Schwartz, *A Monetary History*).
—
#### **3. Overproduction and Underconsumption**
– **Industrial Overcapacity**: Automobile production outpaced demand by 50% by 1929 (GM Annual Report, 1929). Consumer goods piled up as 60% of families lived below the poverty line (Brookings Institution, 1929).
– **Wage Stagnation**: From 1923–1929, productivity rose 43% but wages only 8% (Bernstein, *The Lean Years*). Top 1% income share grew from 12% to 19% (Piketty & Saez, *QJE*, 2003).
—
#### **4. Agricultural Crisis**
– **Price Collapse**: Farm incomes fell 60% ($12B to $5B) from 1929–1932 (USDA). The *Dust Bowl* (1930–1936) displaced 2.5 million people in Oklahoma/Texas (Worster, *Dust Bowl*).
– **Debt Spiral**: Farm foreclosures hit 20% by 1933 (FDIC). The *Agricultural Marketing Act* (1929) failed to stabilize prices.
—
#### **5. Income Inequality**
– **Wealth Concentration**: The top 0.1% held 20% of wealth in 1929 (Saez & Zucman, *AER*, 2016). Middle-class reliance on credit (e.g., 75% of cars bought on installment plans) exacerbated fragility (Olney, *Buy Now, Pay Later*).
—
#### **6. International Trade and Debt**
– **Smoot-Hawley Tariff (1930)**: Raised U.S. tariffs on 20,000 imports, triggering global retaliation. World trade volume fell 66% (1929–1934, League of Nations).
– **War Debts and Reparations**: Germany owed $33B in Versailles reparations, paid via U.S. loans. When U.S. lending halted in 1928, Europe’s economies destabilized (Keynes, *The Economic Consequences of the Peace*).
—
#### **7. Gold Standard Constraints**
– **Deflationary Pressure**: Nations clung to gold convertibility, limiting money printing. The U.S. gold hoard rose from 35% to 45% of global reserves (1929–1933), starving other economies (Eichengreen, *Golden Fetters*).
– **Competitive Devaluations**: Britain abandoned the gold standard in 1931, while the U.S. held until 1933, deepening its crisis.
—
#### **8. Policy Failures**
– **Federal Reserve Errors**: The Fed kept rates high (5% in 1929) to curb speculation, then failed to bail out banks (Bernanke, *Essays on the Great Depression*).
– **Hoover’s Austerity**: The 1932 *Revenue Act
As you can see, both generative AI’s do a good job reviewing the main causes of the Great Depression. They are largely similar in output. They discuss the stock market crash, bank runs, farming difficulties, and financial blunders that made matters worse. Note that as this was just an initial glance at capabilities, I did not fact-check their sources. Hypothetically some of these sources for either or both programs could be hallucinations.
Where there was a big difference between Gemini and DeepSeek was in their rationales. Gemini was like a black box creating an output immediately. This is what I am used to and have seen with CoPilot (which uses ChatGPT) too. In other words, I do not know why the program choose certain facts, a certain tone, a certain paragraph structure, etc. On the other hand, DeepSeek explicitly explained its rationales thoroughly before responding.
For example, here is its thought process. As you can see, it “thought” through its response for over 30 seconds before producing an output.
This level of detailed ‘self’-reflection is impressive. As a user, it allows me to see the critical-thinking that the system is undergoing. I can do not need to guess on why the program had certain elements in its final output. As an educator, there might be great potential in this feature as a tool to help guide students on how to thinking critically. To conclude, while an output related to a major historical event were similar, it’s explicit ‘thinking’ may make DeepSeek a valid program if you are particularly interested in the thought process behind the outputs. While I used the phone app, the fact that DeepSeek can be done locally (without sending information to servers) could also be a plus for student security.
Andrew Levin 