CSStipendRankings: AI Usage

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We use AI (large language models) to help review submissions and draft changes to this website. AI is a tool, not an authority: it can be wrong, and a human maintainer reviews every change before it is merged. This page explains where AI is used and what to watch out for.

Where we use AI

  • The DeepSeek Harness PR Assistant reads new issues and drafts CSV changes as a pull request for maintainers to review. You can trigger a re-run by commenting /dsh (or /deepseek) on an issue or pull request — see Contributing.
  • AI also helps write and maintain parts of this website, including the text on these pages.
  • The assistant is instructed to follow strict rules (12-month, pre-tax figures covering at least 80% of students) and to ask clarifying questions instead of guessing. It does not always succeed.
  • AI is never the final decision-maker: a human maintainer reviews and merges every change that reaches the website.

Sponsor an API key

Running the AI assistant costs money in model API usage, which the maintainers currently cover themselves. If you or your organization would be willing to sponsor an API key, we would be very grateful — please open an issue to get in touch. Sponsorship only helps cover the assistant's running costs; it buys no influence over the data or the rankings.

AI can be wrong

AI-generated content may contain errors. Always verify against a primary source before relying on it.

Typical failure modes include:

  • Incorrect or invented stipend and fee amounts.
  • Figures placed in the wrong column or period (pre- vs. post-qualification, semester vs. summer, 9- vs. 12-month).
  • Stale or dead links, or sources that do not say what the AI claims they say.
  • Wrong labels — for example, marking summer funding as guaranteed when it is not; see Labels & Icons.
  • Confident, fluent prose that is simply false.

Even a correct figure may be outdated, or may describe fewer than 80% of students. Treat every entry as a starting point and check the linked source. See Data & Methodology for how each figure is defined.

Don't trust the data

Treat every figure here as unverified. Stipends, fees, and living costs are user-submitted or estimated, and entries may have been drafted or edited with AI assistance. Numbers can be wrong, stale, or describe fewer than 80% of students. Before acting on any figure, confirm it against the department's own funding page, handbook, or offer letter — use this site to ask better questions, not to get final answers.

Found an AI mistake?

Please report it. Open an issue or a pull request with the correction and a primary source — public reports are the fastest way to get AI-generated errors fixed. See Contributing for details; the maintainers will not respond to private messages sent to their personal or university accounts.