Terms of Use & Research Notice
Last updated: 26 July 2026. This notice and the survey consent language have been reviewed and approved by a supervising adult.
Plain-language note: This is a student research prototype, not a commercial product. This page explains what the tool is, what data it records, and how that data may be used in research. It is written to be readable, not to be legalese. It is not legal advice, and the review noted above was by a supervising adult rather than a formal institutional ethics board.
1. What This vs That is
This vs That ("TVT," "the tool") is an experimental research prototype that compares two options by gathering evidence, surfacing where sources agree and disagree, and producing a calibrated result rather than always naming a single winner. It is built for research and educational purposes. It can be wrong, incomplete, or out of date. Do not rely on it for medical, legal, financial, safety, or other consequential decisions. Always verify important information independently.
2. No warranty
The tool is provided "as is," without warranties of any kind. The maintainers are not liable for decisions made using it or for errors in its output. Outputs are AI-generated and may contain mistakes.
3. What data the tool records
To operate and to support the research described below, the tool records:
- The comparisons you run — the two things being compared and any shared context — and the outputs the system produces: dimensions, claims, sources, conflicts, verdict, lean.
- Contributions you submit (URLs or discussion text you add to a comparison) and their effect on the analysis.
- Aggregate interaction events needed to understand how the tool behaves — for example, that a comparison was run, or that evidence was contributed.
- Optional survey responses, if you choose to answer the short feedback survey.
To be exact about one thing: the research record stores the structured framing rather than what you typed, but the tool's own cache keeps your query as entered so a comparison can be reloaded without re-running it. That is why section 5 matters.
The tool is designed to minimize what it collects. It does not ask for your name, email address, or physical location for research purposes, and it does not sell or share your data with advertisers. Anonymous use is always available; logging in (optional) only attaches a display name to contributions and stores nothing beyond that display name and avatar.
4. How your data may be used in research
This tool is part of a student research project studying AI-assisted comparison and how systems should behave when evidence is uncertain or conflicting. Anonymized, aggregated data from tool usage and from optional surveys may be analyzed and reported in academic papers, presentations, or a public code repository.
- Research reporting uses aggregate statistics — for example, "across N comparisons, X% resolved to 'it depends'". Individual users are not identified.
- If an example comparison or quote is shown in a publication, it is chosen and, where needed, edited so that it does not identify any individual and does not reveal sensitive personal information.
- Survey responses are anonymous and reported only in aggregate; short free-text answers may be quoted anonymously.
By using the tool, you understand that your anonymized, aggregated usage may contribute to this research. Answering the optional survey is a separate, explicit choice indicated by the survey's own consent checkbox.
5. Please don't enter sensitive or identifying information
Because comparisons and contributions are recorded and may inform research, please do not enter personal, private, confidential, or identifying information into the tool — yours or anyone else's. Compare topics, options, and public questions, not private matters. If you include such information anyway, please understand it may be stored as part of the comparison record.
6. Age
This tool and its survey are intended for people 18 years or older. Please do not use the survey, or submit contributions, if you are under 18.
7. Contributions you make
If you contribute a URL or discussion text to a comparison, you confirm you have the right to share it, and you allow it to be displayed as part of that public comparison and analyzed as described above. Do not contribute copyrighted material you don't have the right to share, or content that is unlawful, harmful, or harassing. The maintainers may remove contributions.
8. Acceptable use
Don't use the tool to break the law, to harass others, to attempt to overload or attack the service, or to generate content that is harmful or deceptive. The tool builds on third-party research systems and services, which have their own terms.
9. Attribution
This vs That is built on open research from Stanford OVAL, including STORM and Co-STORM, and uses third-party language-model and search services. It is an independent student project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by those groups.
10. Changes and contact
These terms may change as the prototype evolves; the "last updated" date reflects the current version. Questions about the tool or the research, including how your data is used, can be raised as an issue on the project's public GitHub repository at github.com/radcool22. Questions go to the project rather than to a person, deliberately: the contact for a student research prototype should not be an individual's address.