About the Researcher

Robb Dixon is an AI safety researcher and software engineer focused on interface-level alignment. His work explores how the design of human-AI interfaces affects our ability to communicate intent, with implications for scalable oversight of advanced AI systems.

Core Insight

The interface layer is where minds meet — human or artificial. It's not a UX problem; it's where agency emerges when two different types of minds try to collaborate through a shared boundary. Current AI interfaces are primitive protocols (stateless, lossy). A proper cognitive interface would preserve intent, context, and relationship across interactions.

Research Areas

• Interface-Level Alignment: Studying how UI/UX design creates or prevents alignment failures
• Cognitive Context Graphs: Building external memory systems that preserve user intent across AI sessions
• Real-Time AI Safety: Exploring latency constraints on safety interventions in production systems
• Protocol Design: Experience building coordination protocols for multi-agent AI systems

Background

Former systems engineer with experience in distributed systems, real-time processing, and developer tools. Founded Arc Labs (AI for child development) and Arc Academy (AI-powered Linux education). Uses personal experience with ADHD as a lens for studying intent communication failures in AI interfaces. Experience designing coordination protocols for multi-agent AI systems informs his research direction.

Seeking research collaborations in AI safety, human-AI interaction, cognitive augmentation, and protocol design.