[Grain Policy of a Great Country] How does AI understand biological breeding? We tested Deepseek

How does AI understand biological breeding? We tested Deepseek

Recently, DeepSeek-R1 has attracted worldwide attention. In the field of agriculture, artificial intelligence has had a profound impact on biological breeding. How does AI understand biological breeding? We asked Deepseek 5 questions and invited Wang Youhua, director of the Research Department and researcher of the Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, to comment.

During the question design phase, we gave Deepseek the identity of a "reporter," limited the questioning directions to areas such as technological development, clarification of classic rumors, and relevant policies and regulations, selected five from the "interview outlines" it listed, and asked Deepseek to answer them.

What specific methods does biobreeding technology include?

After receiving this question, Deepseek's thinking path was to clarify the definition of biological breeding technology - integrate information, avoid duplication - and ensure that the referenced terms are correct. After in-depth thinking, Deepseek gave the following answer.

Expert Comments:

Deepseek's description is relatively systematic and comprehensive, and its scientific description is relatively accurate, but it may be lacking in the adoption of a few concepts. For example, whether induced breeding is considered biological breeding, Baidu Encyclopedia (with experts involved in the definition) counts hybrid breeding, induced breeding, etc. as biological breeding techniques, while in some cases it classifies genetic modification, gene editing, whole genome selection, synthetic biology, intelligent design, etc. as biological breeding; Deepseek integrates genomics and multi-omics as a type of biological breeding, while in more cases we use whole genome selection breeding as a type of biological breeding. There are certain differences in description.

Overall, it basically meets the needs of answering common sense questions.

What is the core difference between biological breeding and traditional breeding?

In answering this question, Deepseek first conducted a large amount of data retrieval, including not only media reports, but also Chinese and English literature. After analyzing the literature and data, Deepseek summarized the core differences with a set of keywords, and then expanded these differences one by one, and gave extended thoughts such as "What is the latest progress in gene editing technology in biological breeding?" and "What are the comparative studies on the efficiency of traditional breeding and biological breeding in crop improvement?"

Expert Comments:

Deepseek succinctly states the advantages of biological breeding over traditional breeding, covering several important advantages of biological breeding, and relatively accurately points out the specific advantages of several representative technologies such as genetic modification, whole genome selection, and gene editing. The summary and induction are also relatively clear.

What policy support and management measures does my country currently have for biobreeding technology?

In response to questions about policies and management measures, Deepseek's answers included specific policies, scientific research support, regulatory measures, local implementation, financial insurance and other aspects, but the expression was not rigorous enough and was not adequate.

Expert Comments:

In the expression of policy support and management measures, due to incomplete answers, the authority and rigor may be insufficient. The answers given in terms of national system policies and the release of authoritative documents need to further consider rigorous expression. This may be a higher-dimensional cognitive requirement for Deepseek. Ordinary people still have difficulties in how to express national policies and systems after reading them. Artificial intelligence still needs to improve in the rigorous expression.

4. Are crops with “weird shapes” like purple sweet potatoes and bell peppers all genetically modified crops?

In response to a closed-ended question about clarifying rumors, Deepseek first locked on the two keywords "purple sweet potato" and "colored pepper". In addition to the relevant information and expert opinions released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the search also included reports from many authoritative media, and gave a clear answer to this question.

Expert Comments:

Deepseek is basically competent in answering common sense questions scientifically. In terms of specific answer details, it can also provide more optimized answers. For example, genetic modification technology aims to give crops excellent characteristics such as insect resistance and disease resistance, but it ignores herbicide resistance, which is the most widely used genetically modified trait.

5. How should effective science communication be carried out?

In response to open-ended responses, Deepseek provides recommendations on science communication strategies based on the retrieved literature and the six stages of science communication, including not only the methods of communication, but also the roles of different groups of people in communication, such as the government, scientists, and the media, and lists a science popularization model framework.

Expert Comments:

In terms of suggestions and opinions in some sociological fields, Deepseek can provide answers from multiple angles and can make relatively systematic suggestions for the formulation of some policies and systems.

In general, Deepseek can summarize existing knowledge points within the boundaries of scientific cognition and give relatively scientific expressions. It can be used for the initial creation of popular science works and promoted after review by scientists. However, it lacks literature learning on the latest scientific discoveries and insufficient knowledge innovation, so the summary and analysis of cutting-edge knowledge needs to be considered for use as appropriate.

Written by: Xie Yun

Review expert: Wang Youhua, Director of the Research Department and Researcher of the Institute of Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences