Harnessing AI for Educational Excellence: A Comparative Analysis of DeepSeek and ChatGPT in Social Science Teaching and Learning

The research assesses the relative effectiveness of DeepSeek and ChatGPT tools for social science postgraduate education with MPhil and PhD scholars from Qurtuba University situated in Dera Ismail Khan. The research project uses both quantitative analysis of learning results and qualitative student surveys to study the two AI tools. The study shows DeepSeek generates better academic results when compared to ChatGPT because students scored 25.9% higher in their post-test while scoring 17.7% with ChatGPT, and both results were statistically significant (p = 0.005). The evaluation from students demonstrated that DeepSeek outperformed ChatGPT regarding the tools' accuracy in information delivery as well as their capacity to provide detailed explanations and facilitate meaningful student learning. Nevertheless, students favoured ChatGPT because of its interactive communication capabilities and fast response time. The tools contain a combination of challenges since they sometimes provide out-of-date references and both lack adequate academic citations. Research indicates that DeepSeek stands above ChatGPT for conducting academic investigations, yet students find ChatGPT superior for interactive educational sessions. The proposed directions focus on integrating DeepSeek for thesis assistance as well as deploying ChatGPT for discussions, although better citation capabilities need improvement in the current AI tools. The findings deliver essential direction to teachers, AI developers, and education authorities who want to improve the effectiveness of AI-based learning methods in higher education institutions.