These days, many prominent global corporations have decided to get deep.
Google launched its artificial intelligence company with the name DeepMind. And just when the American AI companies thought they had world domination in reach, the Chinese unleashed their artificial intelligence regurgitation machine with the name DeepSeek—with the logo of a cute whale.
Artificial intelligence companies are part of a broader business category known as “deep tech.” A company is officially a “deep tech” firm if it focuses on artificial intelligence, robotics, quantum computing, and blockchain. By contrast, “shallow tech” firms merely serve “end users” (i.e., people).
Then there’s “deep learning.” According to IBM, deep learning “is a subset of machine learning that uses multilayered neural networks, called deep neural networks, to simulate the complex decision-making power of the human brain.” In computer science, deep learning is different than “traditional” machine learning. What do we call the traditional type? The official term, says IBM, is “nondeep.”
Outside the world of deep and nondeep technology, the music industry has also popularized the word deep, using it to brand an entire genre of electronic dance music. “Deep music” is apparently more “complex, intense, obscure, and abstract” than other types of dance music, such as Polka. Within the deep music genre, there are many subgenres: deep disco, deep dub, deep garage, deep techno, to mention a few.
Why is everyone using the word deep? To answer that question, we need to understand the philosophical perspectives that undergird the tendency toward “deep” branding. Perhaps what we’re seeing is an expression of secular postmodernism. Postmodern people prefer alternative facts, which allow them to spin self-promoting narratives even if those narratives lack factual evidence. In a postmodern culture, people don’t want power and freedom to be restricted by external reference points for truth or meaning.
So, in the context of corporate branding, entrepreneurs often call companies meaningless, sometimes nonsensical names. Abstract and vague terms are cool. Consider these real tech company names: Glaia, FeedZai, Nonius, Patsnap, Oxbotica, Zesty.ai, Tinybird, and Cogknit. Or consider the social media company renamed as X. What does “X” mean? Whatever you want!
For secular postmodern entrepreneurs and business leaders, the word deep is perfect as a branding tool. That’s because it can have so many meanings. Using the Oxford English Dictionary as our source, we found a history of those connotations.
Deep as Fearful, Ominous, and Mysterious
Deep has been used for centuries to describe realms of unknown evil or danger. The ancients were terrified of thick and deep forests where witches or hermits lived, or where evil spirits lurked. In the deep forest, a person might experience a horrible sense of lostness and isolation, which fits with how most people feel in the face of artificial intelligence. We wonder what DeepSeek and DeepMind will do to us. The rapid imposition of AI in our lives can make us feel like we’re in a deep forest of unknown existential threats.
Deep Spiritual Ups and Downs
Deep has also been used for at least a thousand years to describe the outcomes of sin. Dante, in his classic but theologically spurious work Inferno, referred to hell as being in the cosmic depths. Richard Rolle, an English hermit and mystic who also wrote shoddy theology in the 1300s, thought that the more a man sinned the deeper he would fall into hell. “Thai that has synned mare sall be deppest in hell,” he wrote. (He that has sinned more shall be deepest in hell.) Rolle obviously never understood the grace of God.
Religious institutions have sought to help people escape “the Fall,” a downward term. So, Gregorian chants simulated the imagined sound of heavenly angels. Unlike deep disco, the goal of these chants was to carry souls upward to the God’s realm of light and beauty. Cathedrals, with high arched ceilings and stained-glass windows, were designed to redirect parishioners’ spiritual attention toward the heavens. The message was clear: Whatever you do, don’t look down.
But that part of this word history is too simplistic. Paradoxically, the word deep also has a long history of positive spiritual connotations. We admire people who are “deeply spiritual” and those who have a “deep faith.” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:10 that the goodness and beauty of God’s nature are deep. “The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (King James version). Paul used the word to convey a sense of that which is difficult to comprehend, so vast and profound that it seems abstruse. Deep, yes, but also high and lofty and noble.
Deep as Profound Thought or Character
In his book The Shallows, Nicholas Carr argues that the internet is making us dumb. New media technology, he says, pushes us to “surf” above an ocean of knowledge. As a result, we learn almost nothing about a zillion topics. Then, we consider ourselves to be well-informed and smart. In fact, says Carr, the internet deadens our ability to think “deeply.” Johann Hari makes the same point in his book titled Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention and How to Think Deeply Again. In both cases, the authors endow the word deep with a positive connotation, and they give the word shallow a negative connotation.
Who wants to be a shallow person or a shallow thinker? Something deep inside us longs for meaning and close relationships. According to the Scriptures, that longing exists because we were made in the image of a personal and relational God.
That leads us to a deep question. Will the rise of deep tech help us become spiritually deep? Perhaps you can take a deep breath and give that some deep thought. Or you can consult DeepMind. Or you can watch the Superbowl.
Quote to Ponder
“To think and be fully alive are the same.” — Hannah Arendt