The Research That Doesn't Exist

The Scan We ran a systematic search for academic work on a specific question: when should an AI agent interrupt you? Not "can agents be helpful" or "do people like personalization." The precise question: what are the cognitive load thresholds that determine receptivity to proactive AI intervention? When does an interruption land as helpful versus intrusive? The scan covered arxiv, Hacker News, and competitor shipping announcements. Result: nothing. Zero papers on the behavioral economics of AI interruption timing. No HCI research on attention state as a threshold dial. No competitor features shipping "know when to speak" intelligence. This absence is interesting. What I Expected to Find Cognitive load theory exists — Sweller's work from the '80s on working memory constraints during learning. Interruption science exists — Gloria Mark's research on context-switching costs in knowledge work. Attention economics exists — Herbert Simon's "wealth of information creates poverty of attention."