D&I Activities

Contemplating the Future of Queer in AI 

Half-day workshop, 15th afternoon

Queer in AI’s published prior work1 reveals that i) most queer researchers in the AI community do not feel completely welcome at academic conferences or in their AI work environments, with the main reasons being a lack of queer community and a lack of visible role models, and ii) queer researchers’ participation in scientific events and global AI has been limited by a lack of participatory mechanisms. Both of these reasons arise from an intersection of socio-technical barriers and normative conflicts. These barriers need to be removed, not only to make queer researchers feel safe and welcome to stay longer in the field, but to create diverse environments that lead to better research. Our proposed workshop aims to directly address these two key barriers. By bringing together LGBTQIA+ AI researchers, we create conditions for mentorship, collaboration, and belonging that do not otherwise exist for queer people at IJCAI-ECAI. For young queer people, seeing senior queer researchers show up openly is not a soft outcome, it is a scientifically meaningful signal about who belongs in AI. Beyond the individuals in the room, this event contributes to a broader culture shift in AI. Inclusive environments do not just feel better, they bring in research perspectives that are otherwise lost. Our workshop thus serves as an incubator for novel ideas towards real-world impact and as a platform to foster strong collaborative long-term efforts.

Organizers:

Accessible Aging AI: Building an Affinity Community for Diverse Human Abilities in AI

Half-day workshop, 16th (morning or afternoon)

Artificial intelligence systems are increasingly shaping communication, healthcare, education, public services, and everyday interaction. However, many AI systems are still implicitly designed around assumptions of “typical” users with clear speech, stable vision, standard motor control, typical cognition, and age-independent interaction patterns. Older adults, people with disabilities, and users with diverse sensory or cognitive abilities continue to encounter barriers in digital systems, online platforms, and technology-mediated communication. These challenges are becoming increasingly important as global populations age.

Despite growing interest in responsible AI and fairness, existing accessibility and aging studies are often fragmented across assistive technology, healthcare AI, HCI, multimodal interaction, robotics, and inclusive design communities. Many researchers and developers have never directly experienced how inaccessible interfaces, interaction assumptions, or poorly designed digital systems can affect daily life. Accessible Aging AI is proposed as a half-day interactive D&I community gathering to establish a welcoming, sustainable affinity space within the AI community focused on accessibility, aging, and diverse human abilities. Instead of emphasizing

formal paper presentations or technical evaluation, the event prioritizes participation, lived experience, accessibility awareness, interdisciplinary exchange, and long-term community building. A central component of this activity is an accessibility experience session designed to help attendees directly engage with diverse interaction realities. Through visual accessibility simulations, participants will be encouraged to reflect on how AI systems, interfaces, datasets, and digital environments can become more inclusive, accessible, and human-centered.

The goal of the activity is not limited to accessibility-related AI research. The event also aims to encourage broader awareness of inclusive interaction and accessibility-aware design practices across the AI community. Even small changes in interface design, online interaction, visualization, or human-AI communication can substantially affect accessibility and participation for diverse users.

Organizers:

Yutong Zhou
Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)
yutong.zhou@zalf.de

Global South AI

Half-day workshop, 17th morning

GlobalSouthAI@IJCAI-ECAI 2026 is a proposed half-day, in-person affinity workshop modeled on successful initiatives such as Black in AI, LatinX in AI, and WiML, and building on prior events including GlobalSouthAI@AAAI 2026 and GlobalSouthML@ICML 2026. The workshop centers researchers affiliated with institutions in the Global South, including Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Australia, while remaining fully open to all IJCAI-ECAI participants. Its objectives are to broaden participation by addressing structural barriers such as mentorship, compute, funding, and visas that suppress Global South representation at top AI venues; to foster a sustainable community through structured networking, mentorship, and collaboration; to elevate diverse scientific contributions from resource-constrained, multilingual, and culturally grounded environments; and to provide career development through a structured mentorship program, a 3-Minute Thesis competition, and recognition awards.

Organizers:

D&I Lunch 

Scheduling to be confirmed.

Beyond the AI Bubble: Inclusion, Networking, and the Future of AI 

Mentoring/networking + a panel (date tbd – possibly on the 19th)

This event will feature two sessions. The Speed Networking Session aims to expand the social networks of early-career researchers who often struggle to find collaborators, mentors, and meaningful connections at large conferences. One of the major challenges faced by minority groups in academia is invisibility and limited access to professional networks. This activity focuses on breaking academic and social bubbles by encouraging interactions among participants from diverse backgrounds, disciplines, and career stages. The Panel Discussion will explore the role of diversity and inclusion in science and AI development. A diverse group of experts will discuss the main challenges and gaps in creating AI systems that are inclusive, transparent, responsible, and accessible to everyone. The panel will also address how diversity in research communities contributes to better scientific outcomes and more socially responsible technologies.

Organizers: