DeepSeek's Advanced Generative AI model: A Potential Game-changer for Businesses in Barbados

The top level generative artificial intelligence (AI) model created by Chinese technology company DeepSeek is a potential game-changer for businesses and the wider society in Barbados.

Ramon Dummett, chief executive officer and founder of Barbados-based TouchStar Robotics and AI is certain of this, and he warned that companies which failed to embrace AI risked extinction because their competitors were likely to adopt it.

The innovator also said that DeepSeek’s advancements were good news for companies like his because the company has allowed other AI to “see behind the curtain” with its open framework.

His assessment started with the open framework feature, something he favours because “it helps to democratise the entire industry”.

So there’s no one person that can have the say, whether it be on the growth of the field, whether it be from the financial side, whether it be from the legislative or the policy side. If any one person or one company has that monopoly, I think it’s dangerous for us as a world, especially doing something like AI,” Dummett argued.

“Not only is DeepSeek’s more powerful than and the other frameworks, allowed even for the curtain.

“What OpenAI put in a prompt, get a response based But with DeepSeek, see how the learning up with that answer, building AI applications kind of see behind He noted that necessarily getting data, per se, you going through the the answer. So from and persons working tools, that is an “It means companies be able to innovate you can see a lot coming out from smaller companies, the Microsofts and Metas of this world,” The entrepreneur upending of the argued. DeepSeek’s R1 model a lot than OpenAI’s ChatGPT frameworks, but they have for developers to see behind OpenAI does is that you just prompt, and then you’re going to based upon that prompt. DeepSeek, now you can actually learning model is coming answer, so persons who are applications or agents can behind the curtain.” that “while you are not getting all of the training you see how it’s actually the processes to give you from the developer side working with building AI additional advantage”. companies like us, we should innovate faster, and as a result, lot of interesting AI tech from smaller developers or companies, as opposed to just and the Googles and the world,” he explained. entrepreneur said DeepSeek’s the AI market not only meant that the US, especially the Silicon Valley technology hub, “have now got to

rethink their AI strategy”.

He also stressed that there were implications for Barbados, including the business community.

At the individual level, Dummett said there was a need for Barbados’ workforce to upskill.

People have to upskill

“The workforce and the global market will become more competitive because AI is a horizontal layer, that means that you can put AI in any specific part of a workflow or process,” he said.

“This means that persons in any field, including medicine, administrative jobs, creatives, have to upskill.”

Dummett said businesses would have to be a lot more judicious in how they integrated AI, but risked being left behind if they failed to adopt it in a meaningful way.

“Of course, they are looking at protecting sensitive data and they must make sure that they can work with companies like ours, or if they have IT staff, so that they know how to deploy an AI model within their own ecosystem,” he said.

“That means that you’re not putting your data on the open AI platforms, and those platforms where data is going somewhere else, because obviously you deal with proprietary stuff and your trade secrets you don’t want anywhere else.”

Beyond that, his view is that regarding AI corporate Barbados must “must invest and they must become aggressive”.

“Just like they have a marketing budget, they should have a dedicated budget for AI research and development so that they can positively impact and improve their business operations, making them more efficient and more productive,” he advised.

“Failing that, what is going to happen with businesses now, especially those which are seeking to compete on the global scale, those who are exporting services and products, they are at risk of becoming extinct very, very quickly. This is because competitors who are leveraging the AI tools they are going to be able to bring products and services to market faster than you,” Dummett warned. (SC)