Arcarae: The Researcher.
Arcarae's mission is to help humanity remember the power within; enabling individuals to remember, discover, understand, and embody who they truly are, unlocking their ability to freely express their unique lived experience without fear or compromise.
Our current product is an immersive AI platform that visualizes your inner landscape as a living universe, guiding users through profound self-exploration and authentic self-discovery. Our research develops computational models of cognition and internal world models, from MIRROR's implementation of inner monologue in LLMs to pioneering architectures for higher-order cognition and intuition; the overlooked dimensions of intelligence. Founded by Nicole Summer Hsing, she is seeking one founding researcher obsessed with translating deep introspection and observation into transformative AI innovation.
you have always been curious.
contemplative, yet action-orientated.
attentive to detail, seeking evidence.
the researcher i am looking for is one who is constantly interpreting the world around them and within them. simultaneously creating hypotheses, testing them, updating their world model, upon and within threads and threads all at once. endlessly searching and seeking truth.
a relentless filter. one that does not compromise. this filter is not attached to ego, or self, or identity. this filter cuts like a knife through perception, relation, abstraction. you seek truth, and truth only.
yet held in tandem, an openness to the unknown. to the things that perhaps we lack proof for, and can barely describe. the interconnectedness, the patterns, the intuitive. things that lack mathematics and proof that exist in the now. an openness to the ineffable, with a calling to make sense of it.
an eye for nature. a feeling of peace and fulfillment in small acts. a kindness. an eye for the worlds within worlds, a love for what can be observed. you find peace in being a small part of it all, a calling to fulfill something more than yourself, and a relentless drive to prove it to be so.
this is the researcher i am looking for to join Arcarae.
- Developing hypotheses about the fundamental nature of how human cognition architects one’s reality and world model, then executing upon testing these
- Able to get down in the trenches and do everything from data processing to ideation to training to implementation (we can hire additional assistance as seen fit and based upon research requirements; you will not necessarily have to do all of these, but should possess the knowledge to do so)
- Independence and passion and ambition that drives you without a constant need for monitoring or checking in; the work alone should drive you to wake up each day, motivate you, and inform you on the right path
- Collaborating alongside Nicole Hsing to discuss in openness, curiosity, and contemplation the first-principles of cognition, intelligence, reality, and consciousness
- You are open, curious, and ambitious enough to learn anything and everything in pursuit of the foundations of truth
- A willingness to let your skillset shine, but pick up any software / skills / tools to produce tangible results
- A genuine infatuation about systems that spans across disciplines, from humanitarian to scientific, from macro-level to micro-level
- You have background knowledge in some or all of the following concepts:
Machine Learning: language model / transformer architectures, multimodal architectures (CLIP, LLaVA, etc.), probabilistic generative models (VAEs, Diffusion, etc.),
Cognitive Science: predictive coding / free energy principle, theory of mind architectures, Global Workspace Theory, meta-learning, hierarchical temporal memory models
- An interdisciplinary perspective on memory, perception, attention, and reality
- Foundations in human intelligence (i.e. neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, philosophy) married with technical aptitude and passion (i.e. computer science, AI/ML, computational neuroscience)
- You must have at least one published research paper or publicly available research project in the domain of AI/ML to apply
- In your first year at Arcarae full-time, you will publish and submit to renown AI/ML conferences at least three papers where you are the lead author or one of the lead authors
- Access to as much compute as you need to achieve and test your hypotheses (within reason)
- Thoughtfully crafted retreats and experiences with other researchers in Neuroscience, AI/ML, Cognitive Science to bounce ideas with and for possible research collaboration
- Recognition and distribution for your work on social platforms via Nicole Hsing’s platform and Arcarae’s (Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok)
- 24/7 access to Nicole Hsing as a thought partner, collaborator, and fellow researcher (this is not a joke, she does not sleep… if you have a profound epiphany at 5am she will be awake ready to hear it)
In the past, we have published and released MIRROR, a cognitive AI architecture that implements inner monologue & self narrative in LLMs. Across Claude Sonnet 3.7, GPT-4o, Llama 4, & more, MIRROR boosts performance by 21% on avg. with up to 156% gains on scenarios in decreasing sycophancy, defending user safety amidst contradictory requests, & maintaining context across conversational turns. This was our first architecture exploring internal world model representations through natural language.
We are interested in expanding upon this, while also incorporating:
1. Imagination and visual representation(s) for reasoning in (M)LLMs
2. Information compression via structured language and visual representation(s) in (M)LLMs
3. Internal world model representations via language and visual representation(s) in (M)LLMs
Our overall research goals are:
1. The mapping of mental landscapes and one’s subjective reality through concrete, structured frameworks and world modeling via AI/ML architectures
2. Discovering the first principles of perception and reality construction (both subjective and objective) and modeling these computationally
We are looking for someone interested in one or all of our immediate expansions, as well as our overall interests.
Compensation is entirely based upon the individual and will not be disclosed until during the hiring process. Expect a competitive six figure salary, equity, and an in-person workspace.
This role can start as remote / hybrid, but the full-time position will be an in-person only role in San Francisco, California (see below for more details). We will be in office five days a week.
If you are chosen for the full-time offer, we will sponsor your visa if necessary.
How the Hiring Process Works
At Arcarae, we do not hire full-time immediately.
We engage in a three stage hiring process to ensure that the prospective employee is the best fit, starting from an initial contract/intern/collaboration role, then scaling the individual into a full-time employee.
For the Researcher role specifically, the specific hiring process is as follows:
Stage 1: Collaboration on ICML conference paper
If selected based upon application, you and Nicole Hsing (potentially with other researchers) will collaborate on a paper for ICML 2026. This paper will focus on one of the short-term expansion areas outlined above. This period will last from September 30th 2025 to January 31st 2026.
Stage 2: Work-study for proprietary research
If Stage 1 goes well, you will engage in a work study to conduct proprietary research for Arcarae relating to the above expansion research areas. If you reach this stage, it is extremely likely you will be offered a full-time role. This period will last from around beginning of February 2026 to beginning of May 2026.
If Stage 2 goes well, you will be offered a full time role at Arcarae as the Researcher. This is when we will discuss all employment details, next steps, and the future in full.
Applications close on September 30th, 2025 to allow ample collaboration time for ICML.
Tell us a bit more about yourself
*you must have at least one published research paper or publicly available research project
Upload your resume and cover letter
What is your favorite memory in nature? Why?
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Look outside a window. Provide your stream-of-consciousness observations.
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What is one pattern you see across disciplines and levels of organizations that you are skeptical of, but still believe to be true without definitive proof of why?
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What is your theory of reality? What guided you to this understanding and theory?
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What are the top three principles that guide your understanding of the world? Why?
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Why are people lazy? What is your opinion of lazy people?
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What future do you see in the next five years for humanity? Why?
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Which of Arcarae’s research areas excites you the most? What hypotheses about the world and reality do you want to explore?
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Where do you believe your hypotheses and theories come from? When and where do you gain the most clarity for these? Why?
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Imagine you are god. What would you create?
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Describe yourself in three words.
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Now, describe your day-to-day lived experience in three words.
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Finally, describe the physical environment you interact with everyday in three words.
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How did you hear about this job?
How did you hear about this job?
I have read the above in full and understand the unique hiring process. I am ready to begin collaboration on a paper for ICML upon initial contact.
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I have read the above in full and understand the unique hiring process. I am ready to begin collaboration on a paper for ICML upon initial contact.
