The Ultimate AI Research Assistant

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Imagine having an AI research analyst and an AI coder on your team, working 24/7 without breaking a sweat.

That’s the promise of ChatGPT’s new Deep Research agent and the open-source DeepSeek model.

These tools can turn hours of tedious work into minutes of results.

It’s by far the most useful of the AI tools I use so I wanted to lay out the benefits. ​

The Ultimate AI Research Assistant

Harnessing ChatGPT Deep Research and DeepSeek for Deep Insights

There are few things that I recommend that I don’t use regularly. And ChatGPT Deep Research is no exception. It’s now my go-to for much of my daily work. That includes this newsletter, market analysis, white papers, and more.

For the most part, I used Google Gemini Pro with Deep Research. It has been exceptionally capable. But once again, OpenAI has one-upped them. So if you want to make the $200/month investment in ChatGPT Pro (which gives you access to Deep Research), I have to say it could be worth it in time savings if you do a lot of research.

ChatGPT Deep Research is like an on-demand AI research analyst. This agentic mode of ChatGPT can autonomously find, analyze, and synthesize information from hundreds of online sources, delivering a comprehensive report at a professional level. Each report includes clear citations, allowing you to verify facts—an essential feature for making informed decisions.

How to leverage it:

• Be specific with what you ask: The clearer your prompt, the more targeted the research. Include goals or criteria (e.g. “focus on the past 2 years of data” or “highlight any opposing viewpoints”).

• Leverage attachments: Have a lengthy PDF or spreadsheet? Feed it in. Deep Research can incorporate your provided materials along with its web search to tailor the report to your needs.

• Trust but verify: Always review the cited sources. Deep Research makes fact-checking easy by providing references, so you can quickly double-check any claim.

Streamline Technical Workflows with DeepSeek

For more specialized or technical tasks, DeepSeek steps into the spotlight. Unlike ChatGPT’s closed model, DeepSeek’s open nature means developers and businesses can tinker with it, customize it, and even host it themselves.

It’s particularly engineered for coding and industry-specific applications, excelling at debugging, code generation, and AI-assisted development. It can also handle complex queries and data analysis in finance, healthcare, and logistics, making it a versatile tool for professionals in those fields.

I don’t fully trust DeepSeek as it’s hosted by a Chinese company that has some potential security holes. But other providers are hosting the model and you can access it via inference providers like Together.ai and available via Hugging Face here.

Also, there are plenty of derivative models available on Hugging Face that you can try out.

How to put DeepSeek to work:

• Integrate it where you work: If you’re a coder, add DeepSeek to your code editor or use it alongside version control. Treat it like a junior developer who can draft functions or pinpoint why a test is failing (you might want to check out LiteLLM).

• Customize for your domain: Don’t be afraid to retrain or prompt-engineer DeepSeek with industry-specific context. For example, give it a glossary of your company’s terminology or a sample data set before asking complex questions.

• Alternate with ChatGPT: DeepSeek shines in coding, while ChatGPT (especially with Deep Research) shines in broad analysis. Use each for what it does best. For example, generate a coding solution in DeepSeek, then use ChatGPT to explain it in layman’s terms for a client report.

AI Productivity in Action: Real-World Examples

• Market Research in Minutes: A marketing manager asks ChatGPT Deep Research for “top trends, challenges, and opportunities in e-commerce post-pandemic.” By the time she grabs a coffee, the AI has compiled a detailed brief with key stats and source links – a task that would have taken her team days of Googling.

• Coding Assistant on Demand: A software engineer at a startup uses DeepSeek as a pair programmer. When he encounters a tricky bug, he describes the issue in natural language to DeepSeek. The AI not only points out the likely cause (saving him from hours of debugging) but also suggests a code snippet to fix it.

• Strategic Decision Support: An operations executive considering a new project management tool uses ChatGPT Deep Research. Within minutes, she receives a comparison of the top three tools, including pros and cons, a cost-benefit analysis, and user reviews. She confidently makes an informed recommendation in a day—not a month.

Best Practices for Maximizing These AI Tools

1. Pick the Right Tool for the Job: Use ChatGPT Deep Research for broad, complex topics and analysis, and DeepSeek for hands-on tasks like coding or specialized queries (you could even use a proxy server like LiteLLM to go back and forth between them if you like).

2. Craft Clear Prompts (and Provide Context): A well-defined question or task description will yield more precise answers. With Deep Research, attach background info or data files. With DeepSeek, load domain-specific data or examples into its context.

3. Review and Refine the Output: Think of the AI’s first answer as a draft. Check the sources that Deep Research provides. If something looks off or too general, ask a follow-up question or request a more detailed breakdown.

4. Stay Mindful of Limitations: Even advanced AI can err. DeepSeek, like other LLMs, can sometimes produce confident-sounding but incorrect answers, and ChatGPT (even in Deep Research mode) might miss context that a human expert would catch. Double-check critical calculations or decisions.

Conclusion: Work Smarter, Move Faster

The bottom line? ChatGPT Deep Research and DeepSeek can profoundly augment your productivity if used wisely. From rapid research reports to instant coding help, they free you from grunt work and give you more time to focus on strategy, creativity, and decision-making. Early adopters are already seeing the advantage – not just in time saved, but in the quality of insights and solutions they can now generate. In a world where AI capabilities are the new competitive edge, integrating tools like Deep Research and DeepSeek into your workflow can help you work smarter, move faster, and stay ahead of the curve. Embrace these AI tools as part of your team, and watch your efficiency soar.

I appreciate your support.

P.S. Perplexity AI has recently introduced "Perplexity Deep Research," an AI-driven tool designed to autonomously conduct in-depth research, analyze extensive information, and generate comprehensive reports. This tool aims to replicate the efforts of a human researcher in a fraction of the time, making it a valuable asset for professionals and individuals seeking detailed insights.

Since it’s very new and I don’t have a lot of reps with the tech, I can’t offer an opinion but it’s worth the mention. 

Key Features of Perplexity's Deep Research:

• Autonomous Research: Deep Research initiates iterative searches based on user queries, refining its approach to gather the most pertinent information.

• Comprehensive Analysis: It examines hundreds of sources, including text, images, and PDFs, to synthesize findings into structured, detailed reports.

• User Accessibility: The tool is available for free to all users, with non-subscribers allowed up to five queries per day. Pro subscribers benefit from an increased limit of 500 queries daily.

• Performance Metrics: Deep Research completes most reports in under three minutes, offering a swift alternative to traditional research methods.