Dr. Robbins’s work has been featured in national and international media outlets, including NPR, Scientific American, Yahoo Tech, The Conversation, and more. Her science communication efforts also include public speaking and leading workshops in visual design. Drawing on expertise in attention, perception, learning, and artificial intelligence, Dr. Robbins delivers engaging, accessible presentations that help audiences better understand how people see, think, learn, and interact with the world around them.

Upcoming events

Book Dr. Robbins

Dr. Robbins is available to speak at your event or workplace. Read the description of current talk and workshop offerings below. Use the contact form to learn more about pricing and availability. For media requests, please reach out via email at arobbins at richmond dot edu

“AI Can Recognize Images, But Does It ‘See’?”

Artificial intelligence can identify faces, categorize objects, and even outperform humans on some visual tasks, but does it actually “see” the world the way we do? Dr. Arryn Robbins explores the surprising similarities and differences between human and artificial perception, revealing how our own visual systems actively construct meaning from the world around us. Drawing on research in cognitive science, visual perception, and AI, she explains how human perception is shaped by context, expectations, goals, and experience, while AI systems often rely on statistical patterns that can produce both remarkable successes and unexpected failures. Along the way, audiences will discover what these differences reveal about the nature of perception itself and why understanding them matters for technologies ranging from self-driving cars and medical imaging.

“Why We Miss What’s Right in Front of Us“

We like to think of vision as a reliable window into the world, but much of what we “see” is actually constructed by the brain, and much of what is right in front of us goes unnoticed. In this engaging and interactive talk, Dr. Arryn Robbins explores the science of visual attention, revealing how our minds shape perception, filter information, and sometimes blind us to the obvious. Drawing on research in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and applied perception, she demonstrates why experts such as radiologists and birdwatchers literally see the world differently, how attention can both help and hinder performance, and why phenomena like the famous “invisible gorilla” continue to surprise us. Through demonstrations and real-world examples, audiences will gain a deeper understanding of how perception works, why we miss what matters, and how these same cognitive processes influence everything from everyday decision-making to our ability to detect AI-generated misinformation and visual deception.

“How to Hold an Audience’s Attention“

Every presentation, lecture, meeting, and training session competes for one of the brain’s most limited resources: attention. Drawing on research in cognitive psychology, visual attention, and perception, Dr. Arryn Robbins describes how attention works, why audiences lose focus, and what speakers can do to keep people engaged. Through interactive demonstrations and real-world examples, participants will learn what audiences notice, remember, and ignore. The talk also provides practical strategies for structuring presentations, designing slides, and creating learning experiences that guide attention effectively and improve audience engagement. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of the science of attention and a toolkit of evidence-based techniques for making their talks, classes, and presentations more memorable and impactful.

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