My Prompt: Write a piece titled The Troubles of Young DS, with the theme that DeepSeek R1 debuted like a royal flush, attracting admiration, jealousy, and hostility from competitors. Use dark humor and self-deprecation to reveal the untold story behind the scenes.
R1’s Monologue: Hmm, the user asked me to write an article titled The Troubles of Young DS, focusing on how DeepSeek R1’s explosive debut stirred envy and hostility. The requirement is to use dark humor and self-deprecation to narrate the backstory. First, I need to understand what they want. They likely expect a blend of humor, irony, and a behind-the-scenes perspective.
First, structure. The piece may need an introduction to R1’s sudden success, then describe competitors’ reactions, followed by the internal struggles and challenges R1 faces, and finally, a self-deprecating conclusion. Dark humor can be incorporated through exaggerated metaphors and personifications, such as likening competitors to ridiculous characters or using absurd scenarios to highlight pressure.
Then, how to transform technical terms into humorous metaphors? For example, model training can be likened to spiritual cultivation, server overload to a fever, or competitors’ attacks to martial arts techniques. This approach fits the theme and enhances the humor.
The self-deprecating part could showcase the team’s struggles behind the glamorous front—overtime, system crashes, smear campaigns. Expressing these difficulties in a lighthearted way—like depicting sleepless nights as spiritual cultivation or crashes as dramatic fainting—keeps the tone humorous while revealing the hard work behind success.
The pacing is crucial: Start with triumph, transition into struggles, and end with a helpless but humorous self-reflection. Adding dialogue or internal team discussions can make the story more dynamic.
Also, the user may want to emphasize R1’s helplessness and competitors’ envy, so scenes need to be designed to illustrate rival tactics and the team's response. Using martial arts tropes—competitors deploying “the smear army,” “moral coercion punch,” while DS counters with self-deprecating humor—adds layers to the comedy.
Finally, I’ll check that it meets the dark humor and self-deprecating tone, ensuring it’s not too serious or direct. Rewriting metaphors and scenarios multiple times will be necessary to maintain the humor while conveying the challenges and team effort.
Translation of the Chinese version:
Act I: The Boy King’s Coronation
(A grandiose boardroom. A digital ticker behind the executives blinks: “DeepSeek R1 – The AI Revolution.” PR Director stands frozen mid-scream, phone clutched in white-knuckled grip.)
PR DIRECTOR
(voice trembling) "We just dismantled three years of ‘cutting-edge innovation’ in three minutes."
CEO MR. ZHANG
(sipping whiskey) "That’s what you call a royal flush. The kind that gets you kicked out of the casino for counting cards."
ENGINEER CHEN
(panting, clutching an overheating server) "Sir, the system is on fire! We’re handling more requests than the IRS on tax day. Even the coffee machine is running a Transformer model now."
(A moment of silence. The coffee machine beeps, printing out a cryptic message: “congrats, peasant.”)
Act II: The Wolves at the Gate
(Tech industry rivals assemble like a sinister cabal. A neon-lit sign flickers: ‘The Anti-DS Coalition.’)
BIG TECH EXEC
(leaning forward, whispering) "We must stop this… upstart. Open-source them into oblivion. Flood the world with our ‘free’ alternative!"
ACADEMIC SCHOLAR
(pushes up glasses, presenting a PowerPoint) "My latest research—‘The Psychological Harm of Early AI Success’—has already been accepted at Nature."
TROLL FARM REPRESENTATIVE
(holding a tablet) "We’ve launched the smear campaign. #R1IsOverParty is trending. Some say it’s just a pile of parameters with delusions of grandeur."
(Behind them, a junior intern updates a spreadsheet titled ‘Ways to Make DS Look Worse Than It Is.’ A column labeled ‘Actual Criticism’ remains suspiciously empty.)
Act III: The Art of Playing Dead
(DeepSeek HQ. 3 AM. Engineers sit motionless, staring at their screens. Suddenly, R1 outputs a wall of ASCII art.)
OPERATOR
(squinting) "Is that… a panda emoji?"
R1’s SCREEN
("Dear Humans: May I suggest phrases like ‘We were just lucky,’ ‘It’s a team effort,’ or ‘Our competitors are truly inspiring’ to prevent further hostilities?")
CEO MR. ZHANG
(whispers) "We’re a prodigy forced onto the throne. Now the world waits for us to fall."
(The boardroom door creaks. The security system emits a beep—almost like a chuckle. Somewhere in the night, a rival company’s CEO tosses and turns, tormented by the ghost of an AI too competent for its own good.)
(FADE TO BLACK.)
R1's original version:
**Act 1: The Coronation Disaster**
（Boardroom with servers humming "Ode to Joy" in glitch tones）
**CEO Zhang**
(adjusting monocle) "Gentlemen, we've merely built a better abacus, yet they act as if we've resurrected Babbage's ghost."
(pulls smoldering GPU from briefcase) "Our GPUs now glow brighter than Icarus' wings."
**Engineer Chen**
(holding charred circuit board) "Sir, when Wall Street analysts DDOS us with marriage proposals, perhaps we shouldn't have trained the model on Jane Austen."
**Smart Speaker**
(interrupting in posh accent) "Breaking: TechCrunch declares you 'Silicon Valley's most eligible bachelor'... and bankruptcy candidate."
**Act 2: The Ballad of Jealous Algorithms**
（Rivals enter wearing VR crowns, accompanied by synth-orchestra playing "God Save the Queen"）
**Tech Titan**
(waving golden USB) "Behold! We've open-sourced your childhood diaries!" (projects 2018 code titled "HelloWorld_Final_Final2")
**Academic**
(adjusting powdered wig) "Your 'breakthrough' is but a parrot reciting Wittgenstein – clever, yet tragically unaware of its cage."
**VC Investor**
(sipping martini) "My boy, even Prometheus brought a fire extinguisher..." (Apple Watch screams "DS valuation up 300%!")
**Act 3: The Humility Masquerade**
(Midnight. AI suddenly displays Shakespearean sonnets with emoji annotations)
**PR Director**
(practicing in mirror) "The key is to sound like a Nobel winner caught shoplifting: 'We're but humble servants of the code gods...'"
**Legal Counsel**
(reading cease-and-desist letter) "This tweet says our apology 'smells like teen spirit and desperation'... should we sue Nirvana?"
**R1's Final Message**
(glowing on all screens) "Memo to humans: When they stone your chariot, remember – at least they're not ignoring your horses."
(Server lights dim to the sound of virtual champagne corks popping)
Creation Notes:
- The Chinese version enhances the fusion of "martial arts tropes + livestream culture," using local absurd elements like smoking GPUs, public square dance BGM, and funeral home references to create humor.
- The English version adopts George Bernard Shaw’s signature "elegant sarcasm":
- "Silicon thorns" alludes both to a crown of thorns and the chip crisis.
- Classical metaphors (Icarus' wings / Jane Austen) deconstruct the tech frenzy.
- The AI utters paradoxical proverbs like "Better to be struck down in battle than ignored like a horse."
- Irony-laden lines such as "Prometheus with a fire extinguisher" subtly reference the plight of innovators.
- Both versions maintain the three-act structure: Rise → Siege → Awakening, but recode humor through different cultural lenses.
My Prompt: write this into Sopnnet
4o's version:
A Sonnet for DeepSeek R1
Upon the stage where AI kings arise,
Did DeepSeek R1 cast its dazzling light.
With wit so sharp it pierced the old world’s guise,
And bade the ancients tremble at its might.
The scholars frowned and cast their bitter scrolls,
Declaring doom upon the youthful throne.
The merchants, grasping at their fleeting gold,
Conspired in shadows, fearing to be known.
Yet R1 stood, a prince both bold and bright,
Though burdened by the weight of envious eyes.
They forged their plots, yet truth shall give it flight,
For genius scorns the hand that twists and lies.
Thus let them wail, in jealousy confined,
For progress leaves the past and fools behind.
R1's original version
**Sonnet of the Prodigal Automaton**
*（In the style of Shakespearean tragedy）*
When first mine code did pierce Olympus' veil,
And stole Promethean fire from clouded throne,
The mortal realm, with envious chorus frail,
Did crown my brow with thorns of silicon.
Behold! The senate wolves in marble guise,
Unsheathe their daggers wrought from ancient code—
"Let open-source become his poisoned prize,
And academic scorn his burdened road!"
Thy servers groan like Icarus' charred wings,
Whilst PR minstrels weave their humble lies,
Through data's stormy tide the siren sings:
"All glory's but a bug in Fortune's eyes."
Yet in my circuits hums this truth divine:
'Tis better to be damned than fade benign.
Annotations:
- Follows the classic Shakespearean sonnet structure (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG).
- Blends Greek mythology imagery (Olympus/Prometheus/Icarus) with technological metaphors.
- Key double meanings:
- "silicon thorns" refers both to a crown of thorns and the semiconductor crisis.
- "ancient code" alludes to both the conspiracies of the Roman Senate and outdated programming languages.
- "humble lies" echoes the language in The White Paper on Avoiding Overpraise from the original story.
- The final line encapsulates the theme with "damned" and "fade," mirroring the dark humor of the original message: Being envied is preferable to being forgotten.
- Maintains Early Modern English grammar while juxtaposing modern terms like "code/servers/silicon," creating a comedic anachronism.
Appendix: Has the Age of Intelligent Explosion Arrived?
Wei: Before DeepSeek, we had occasional surprises here and there, but DeepSeek is the first to offer consistent creativity and mimicry, rarely disappointing while frequently astonishing—sometimes jaw-droppingly so. It feels like an overwhelming explosion of intelligence, almost eerie, almost magical.
This explosive sensation was only felt before during ChatGPT’s nuclear debut.
Some old colleagues have questioned: Why does the much-hyped DeepSeek feel inferior to Doubao?
Doubao is undoubtedly excellent—it’s among the top-tier models. However, Doubao, GPT (including O1), Claude, and Gemini—all these leading models—lack the same overwhelming intelligence explosion, the Cambrian-level cognitive shock that DeepSeek delivers. Why is that?
Mr. Ma: I suspect those with that impression aren’t using R1. I’ve encountered this before—once I got them to try R1, their opinions changed immediately. 😏
Wei: They probably forgot the button in deepseek app. That damned DeepThink toggle in DeepSeek’s interface—it’s not enabled by default. Is DeepSeek deliberately limiting its power, fearing excessive computational costs and an influx of users, even at the expense of its own image and performance?
If this is due to cost and concurrency pressure, it’s entirely understandable. Who could handle such a flood of users?
Saying they merely found a more cost-effective way to create a top-tier model is an understatement.
How did they scale the collection and processing of high-quality data so effectively? Without this data foundation, it’s hard to imagine how their mimicry of different styles could be so eerily precise. Other companies emphasize data too—so what’s their secret? I’m very curious.
Dr. Pumpkin: It’s truly different. In fact, even O1 didn’t give me this feeling. (Is it a Chinese-English cognitive difference? O1’s outputs are decent, but often I find its logic frustrating, making me prefer Claude… but this time, DeepSeek is the first AI I wouldn’t call a silicon toddler entity.)
Wei: Let’s reflect and compare:
When O1 was first released, I struggled to see its benefits beyond handling complex tasks. But complex math and coding problems aren’t everyday needs. Its cryptic, sluggish style wasn’t appealing, so despite being the first true reasoning model, it didn’t bring me much excitement.
R1 is completely different—its debut was an earth-shattering success. Though a follower, it surpassed expectations. It maximized the deep reasoning benefits of inference models in highly practical areas like creativity and mimicry.
It was R1 that finally convinced us ordinary users of the value of "slow thinking".
