DeepSeek, the AI race and the great collective FOMO 

I'm going to start this article with a story that, if you don't already know it, you need to know: a famous clothing brand has adopted a creative strategy to conquer a supermodel and achieve free dissemination. with great boldness, but an enormous confidence, chose to gift the cycle of friendships of the model very pumped, who saw her friends wearing the pieces, praising everything, and her getting out. Afraid of not being part of the “panelinha”, this supermodel sought out the brand, asked to receive the items and, spontaneously, posted it on their social networks. result? The brand has become a worldwide success. What this supermodel felt is something we all – Mainly Marketers – We have already tried it at least once: the FOMO, the famous “Fear of Missing Out”. 

This analogy brought me another question. Faced with the IAS race, are we not being victims of this same syndrome? Deepseek was officially launched and, in less than a day, we were all immersed in an unbridled search for information, discussing technical aspects such as the costs of developing technologies in China compared to other countries, to broader issues, such as the giant volume of data from the Asian country, which makes it a superpower. Also the fears about security were also included in the agenda because it is a Chinese technology and detailed comparisons with the chatGPT and other intelligences on the market. 

Faced with the very high figures and the technological race, it is natural for the giants of the sector to fight for the leadership of this digital revolution. It is part of the valuation strategy to launch its novelties in the middle of noise, accompanied by a flurry of information, comparatives, expressive results and exorbitant numbers. But what about us marketers? Do we need to follow this rush with the same intensity? 

The launch of DeepSeek and the bombardment of information that followed reinforce the feeling that we are, yes, being victims of FOMO. The excess of connection and the constant need to be updated on each novelty can be harmful, limiting our time, creativity and even affecting our emotional well-being. The goal itself has already admitted that excessive consumption of technology is not recommended and encouraged users of their social networks to disconnect and live more in the real world. 

The IAS race reminds me of the internet bubble in the 2000s. At the time, everything seemed like gold: billions circulated, Google, PayPal, YouTube and several startups that lived the height of Silicon Valley emerged. Many theories have emerged, as predictions that machines would dominate the world and replace most of the human workforce. Coincidentally or not, this cycle of AIs appears exactly 20 years after the “digital boom”, signaling another revolution in the market and in the two-decade cycle. 

Faced with this scenario, the great reflection for marketers is whether it is worth getting into this unbridled race or it is more strategic to follow the changes with more balance. The FOMO syndrome can drive us to act, but it can also blind us to what really matters. Amid the avalanche of information, the real advantage is to filter what is relevant, to understand what really impacts our work and adopt the innovations with awareness. After all, it's not about consuming everything, but knowing how to choose what really makes sense for our strategy and for our time. Play with the news, but wisely!