DeepSeek R1 is Here—What That Actually Means for Creative Professionals
There’s no sugarcoating it—AI is permanently changing creative industries. But that doesn’t mean creativity itself is disappearing.
AI isn’t some distant future—it has already changed my creative workflows.
AI models like GPT-4o have been reshaping how creatives write, edit, and ideate. There are powerful image and video models widely available. But now, DeepSeek’s R1 model is shifting the landscape in a different way. It’s free, it’s open-source, and it’s putting reasoning AI in more hands than ever before. That alone makes it a big deal.
But as the drama around R1 builds (and impacts global markets), I keep seeing misinformation about what it actually is, how it compares to OpenAI’s models, and what it means for creative professionals. People are treating R1 like it’s the most powerful AI ever released—it’s not (although it’s close). Others assume this is the first time an open-source model has been competitive—also not true.
What’s happening right now isn’t just about R1 as a model—it’s about a fundamental shift in AI accessibility, competition, and impact on creative industries. So, this isn’t just a tech story. It’s an economic story, a geopolitical story, and a worldwide AI arms race playing out in real time.
Nvidia lost nearly $600 billion in market value in a single day after R1’s release—the largest one-day loss for any public company in history.
This didn’t happen because Nvidia suddenly became irrelevant—but because R1 challenged a core assumption about AI economics. Until now, cutting-edge AI was thought to require billions of dollars in compute and the most advanced chips. DeepSeek claimed to have trained R1 for just $5.6 million using older-generation GPUs, raising questions about whether AI companies really needed to spend billions on training—and if Nvidia’s high-end chips were still as essential to AI development as they once seemed.
The reaction in financial markets was swift. If companies could develop high-performing models with significantly less compute, that meant demand for Nvidia’s most expensive AI chips could slow down. Investors panicked, causing Nvidia’s stock price to plummet, with Microsoft, Google, and Meta also seeing major losses.
DeepSeek is a Chinese-owned company, and the U.S. government is now investigating DeepSeek over national security concerns. The worry isn’t just about AI competition—it’s about how AI models are trained, who controls them, and how they might be used.
Not everyone is convinced by DeepSeek’s numbers. Many in the AI community have raised skepticism over whether R1’s training cost was really that low. Some speculate that DeepSeek may have received government-subsidized compute resources, lowering their reported costs. Others argue that while DeepSeek’s techniques are more efficient, high-end AI models still require expensive scaling—and this won’t be the death blow to Nvidia that some fear.
AI is moving faster, getting cheaper, and becoming more accessible than most people expected. Whether or not DeepSeek’s cost claims hold up, R1 is still a big innvoation. The broader shift toward more affordable, open-source AI models is here—and that’s going to change how creative professionals, businesses, and entire industries approach AI.
Experts believe we are closer than ever to AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), which could redefine work, economics, and creativity at an even faster pace. And for creative professionals, the biggest question isn’t if AI will change the industry—it’s how fast you can adapt.
So let’s break this down:
📌 What R1 actually brings to the table.
📌 How it stacks up against OpenAI’s models.
📌 Why the financial and geopolitical impact of AI is impossible to ignore.
📌 And most importantly—how creatives can build a future-proof career in a world where AI isn’t just a tool, but a force that’s already reshaping everything.
This is happening now. The question is, what do we do next?
R1’s Real Impact: Free Reasoning AI for Everyone
DeepSeek’s R1 isn’t the most powerful AI model available, but that’s not what makes it important.
The real shift is that R1 is completely free and open-source, making high-quality reasoning AI accessible to more people than ever before.
Until now, reasoning models were mostly locked behind paywalls. OpenAI’s O1 requires API access or a paid subscription. If you weren’t willing to spend money, you didn’t have many options. Now, with R1, anyone can experiment with a strong reasoning model without paying anything.
And that accessibility is exactly why R1 exploded in popularity.
Within days of its release, R1 went viral on TikTok, Discord, X, and other social platforms, where AI creators and influencers began testing its capabilities in real time. People weren’t just hearing about R1—they were watching side-by-side demos, seeing its structured responses, and trying it for themselves.
One reason it caught on so quickly, especially among younger users, is its clear chain-of-thought responses. Unlike other AI models that skip to providing direct answers, R1 reveals its raw internal reasoning. It’s almost like reading the inner monologue of an insecure friend, before getting the finalized response. This led to a wave of TikTok users describing its internal ‘thinking’ responses as “cute” because of how vulnerable it seems to be.
This isn’t the first open-source AI model, but it’s one of the first to be productized in a way that makes it widely usable. Its structured reasoning style makes it feel more deliberate and logical compared to previous widely available conversational models, which has helped R1 gain traction quickly.
It’s a reasoning AI that’s widely available, easy to use, and already changing how people work. It quickly hit #1 in the US App Store. Even if it’s not the most advanced model, its accessibility is driving a new wave of AI adoption.
The Misinformation Around R1—What It Actually Competes With
When R1 dropped, the hype was immediate. People on social media, in AI forums, and even some tech analysts started making bold claims: R1 beats OpenAI’s best models. It’s replacing OpenAI overnight. That is simply not true.
R1 is a strong reasoning model, but it’s not the most powerful AI available—and it was never meant to be. The biggest misconception floating around is that R1 is competing with OpenAI’s $200/month O1-Pro model. That’s wrong.
R1 is actually only at parity with OpenAI’s $20/month O1 model, the one available in ChatGPT Plus. That’s an important distinction. People saw R1 handling complex reasoning tasks and assumed it was competing at the highest levels, when in reality, OpenAI still holds the edge in top-tier AI development.
But because R1 is free, it landed in more hands than any reasoning model before it. That’s where the confusion started. People weren’t just hearing about R1; they were actually using it, testing it, and seeing how good it was—without needing a paid subscription.
For many users, being free and “good enough” matters more than raw power. AI influencers started posting side-by-side comparisons, and soon, R1 became more than just a model—it became a symbol of Chinese AI supremacy. The fact that a strong reasoning model is suddenly open to everyone feels like a turning point.
People are still debating how R1 stacks up against OpenAI’s models. The truth is, R1 is impressive, but it’s not leading in raw capability. OpenAI still has stronger models, and Sam Altman has already confirmed that OpenAI has even more advanced models internally that haven’t been released yet.
For creative professionals, the real question isn’t just whether R1 is powerful—it’s whether it’s actually useful.
The answer? It depends on what you need AI for.
If your work involves long-term planning, structuring ideas, or breaking down complex projects, R1 has its strengths. It’s good at step-by-step reasoning, which can be useful for outlining, logic-heavy scripts, or developing structured workflows. But if your creative process requires longer-form nuance, R1 isn’t there yet. Conversational models like GPT-4o still outperform it in creative writing tasks that require length and depth.
This doesn’t mean R1 isn’t valuable—it just means it’s not an all-in-one AI tool that will dominate everything. It’s a major step in AI accessibility, but it’s not replacing OpenAI’s best models, and it’s not about to take over creative work anytime soon.
But what it has done is bigger than just an AI model comparison. Because R1 didn’t just shake up AI communities—it sent shockwaves through the global economy.
Some are calling this a "Sputnik moment" for AI—a wake-up call that China is advancing AI at a pace that could challenge Western dominance in the field. The U.S. has already imposed strict export controls on AI chips to China, and now, there are growing concerns about whether further action will be needed.
For creative professionals, this might seem distant from the day-to-day realities of AI tools. But in reality, these shifts directly impact the tools and models we rely on. If new AI regulations come into play—whether restricting access to Chinese models or tightening control over open-source AI—it could change what tools are available and how we use them.
What This Means for Creatives
We’re not just seeing AI evolve—we’re seeing it reshape global power dynamics, economic stability, and technology policy.
For creatives, the lesson here isn’t just about R1 as a model. It’s about recognizing that AI is moving faster than most industries can regulate or adapt.
The companies that make these models aren’t just competing for users—they’re competing for economic power, national security influence, and dominance in the future of intelligence itself.
That means the AI landscape isn’t going to stay stable. Models will come and go. Some tools might get restricted. Others might advance beyond what we can even predict today. If R1 can cause a $600 billion stock crash overnight, what happens when the next wave of models—like OpenAI’s O3—hits?
Staying adaptable is more important than ever. Because while AI is changing how we work, it’s also changing the world around us.
For years, creative professionals have asked if AI would change the industry. That question is already answered. It has. The better question now is: How do we adapt?
The launch of R1 isn’t just a breakthrough in reasoning AI—it’s a signal that barriers to high-level AI access are collapsing. Before this, powerful reasoning models were locked behind expensive APIs, available mostly to enterprise users or developers willing to pay. R1’s release proved that advanced reasoning isn’t exclusive anymore.
That shift has real consequences for creative professionals. Because when AI becomes more accessible, two things happen:
More people start using it, which means AI-generated media floods the market even faster.
The value of creativity shifts from execution to originality—what AI can’t easily replicate.
For some creatives, this is unsettling. AI-generated writing, video, and even full productions are getting more sophisticated. If AI can brainstorm, outline, and refine work at a high level, where does that leave human creatives?
Where Creative Work Is Headed Next
There’s no sugarcoating it—AI is permanently changing creative industries. But that doesn’t mean creativity itself is disappearing. It just means that the most valuable creative work will come from what AI can’t replicate.
Right now, AI is incredible at:
Following structured workflows and logical reasoning.
Assisting with repetitive creative tasks and brainstorming.
It’s getting better at:
Media generation (text, audio, image, video).
Full technical automation, full computer control including creative software.
AI struggles with:
True originality.
Personal perspective and lived experience.
Emotional depth that feels fully human.
This is where creative professionals need to focus. AI can achieve originality with unique goals, specific guidance, and human validation. The future of creative work isn’t about competing with AI—it’s about doubling down on what makes human creativity irreplaceable.
How to Stay Ahead in the AI Shift
DeepSeek’s R1 is the latest step in a rapid AI evolution, but it won’t be the last. OpenAI’s O3 is coming soon, and more open-source models will follow. The next 18 months will likely bring even bigger leaps in reasoning and creative AI.
Here’s how to stay ahead:
Use AI to enhance, not replace. R1 and O1 are great for structuring ideas, breaking down problems, and planning—but it doesn’t create with your unique intuition. The best creative work will come from those who use AI as a tool, not a crutch.
Develop a distinct creative voice. As AI-generated content floods platforms, human creativity that feels personal, raw, and uniquely human will stand out even more.
Experiment with AI workflows. Whether it’s using R1 for logic-heavy structuring or GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet for creative writing, creatives who learn to mix models effectively will have a major advantage.
Stay flexible. The AI landscape is shifting fast. Today it’s R1, next week it’s O3, and soon, models even stronger than we expect will be here. Being adaptable will be critical.
The Next 18 Months Will Be Defining
For creative professionals, the next 18 months will be a defining period. AI is a force that’s reshaping the creative process itself. The speed of AI progress is accelerating, and those who adapt will have an edge. This is just the start of a much bigger shift towards AGI, and eventually ASI.
How are you integrating AI into your workflow? What models are proving most useful in your work?
Let’s talk about it. Email me at shannon@creativeworkflowlab.com