Call for papers (Human-Centred AI)

Special Track on Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence: Multidisciplinary Contours and Challenges of Next-Generation AI Research and Applications

Important Dates

Abstract submission deadline: January 12, 2026
Author information and Full paper submission deadline (including Appendix and resubmission information): January 19, 2026
Summary reject notification: March 4, 2026
Author response period: April 7-10, 2026
Paper notification: April 29, 2026
Conference: Saturday, August 15 to Friday, August 21, 2026.

(all times are 23:59 Anywhere On Earth, UTC-12)

Submissions are solicited for the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 Special Track on Human-Centred Artificial Intelligence (HAI). The special track aims to explore the multidisciplinary scientific contours and challenges of next-generation artificial intelligence research and its applications in real-world contexts.

The special track welcomes and aims to inspire a multifaceted perspective on approaching next-generation Human-Centric AI Research primarily, but not exclusively, at the confluence of formal, computational, and cognitive aspects on the one hand, and social, cultural, and ethico-legal dimensions influencing AI development and their application on the other hand.

The special track welcomes original research that:

·  Recognises and articulates a nuanced view of computational intelligence in relation to the depth, diversity and multi-faceted nature of ‘human intelligence’ in diverse naturalistic real-world problem solving, as well as in everyday human activity and interaction contexts. We welcome demonstrated and systematically evaluated computational models of one or more aspects of human-intelligence, be it with or without the integration of diverse AI techniques/methods.

·  Concretely addresses the practical `AI-methodology’ design implications emanating from the (human-centric) cognitive, social, ethical and legal dimensions driving (responsible) AI/ML developments. By AI design, we imply technical questions pertaining to human-centric AI engineering, deployment, usability, evaluation, benchmarking, and standardization of AI/ML techniques. Such AI-design may be pursued, for instance, in the explicit backdrop of emerging AI regulation, or it may be conceptually rooted (and `systematically’ justified) vis-à-vis social and ethical considerations identifiable in a specific task/context or application domain as determined through systematic empirical evaluation of human-factors.

Integrative research efforts combining computational methods with behavioural or empirical techniques aimed at exploiting synergies in the study of artificial and human intelligence are also welcome, as long as the technical novelty from the viewpoint of AI method development is clearly articulated and evaluated, and constitutes the key aspect of the submitted work.

FOCUS: AI, Human Cognition, and Embodied Interaction.

The 2026 edition of the special track focusses (primarily but not exclusively) on the role of `Human Cognition’ and `Embodied (Multimodal) Interaction’ in diverse naturalistic settings for the design and development of next-generation foundational methods and techniques in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. By `Humans’ and `Human Cognition’, entailed are human behaviours, preferences and expectations, decision-making, multimodal interaction modalities, problem-solving skills (etc) as relevant from perspectives such as: 

(a) Human perception, interaction, and cognition; 
(b) Society and culture; 
(c) Ethics and emerging AI-related regulatory compliance; and 
(d) Standardization of AI/ML techniques from the viewpoint of responsible AI considerations. 

The special track will particularly prioritise research focussed on human-behavioural studies involving quantitative and/or qualitative empirical analyses of human-behaviour in naturalistic settings as a means to systematically influence the design of human-centred AI methods. Also in focus are specific technical implications for the (human-centric) design of AI in applications relevant to, for instance:

·  Interactive human assistance and collaborative autonomy in everyday life and professional work contexts (e.g., autonomous and assisted driving, human-robot collaboration, social interaction between human and robots)
·  Clinical or medical practice (e.g., involving translational cognitive diagnosis, rehabilitation, multimodal neurocognitive imaging, neuroethics)
· Collaborative problem-solving for engineering design synthesis, discovery, diagnostics, creativity etc. (e.g. architecture design, media design)
· Creative computing (e.g., AI-driven digital visuo-auditory media synthesis in entertainment)
·  Digital Media (e.g., disinformation and fake news mitigation, AI in education)

The above application areas are merely indicative, and by no means exhaustive. We welcome all systematically investigated AI application contexts that have not been explicitly mentioned in this call.

HAI Special Track Format –and– Selection

The special track will:

  • Focus selectively and exclusively on novel, unpublished technical works articulating the challenges and demonstrated solution methodologies relevant to next-generation human-centred AI research.
  • Prioritise those works that are truly interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary, or include an integration of multiple techniques –e.g., computational and behavioural/empirical– from within and beyond areas such as AI/ML, Cognitive Science, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Human-Factors.
  • As long as the inter/multidisciplinary motivations are full-filled, the track will also prioritise works that integrate methods from sub/related communities of AI that have traditionally come to operate rather independently (e.g., Vision and AI, AI and Robotics, AI and Cognitive Science).
  • Where applicable or necessary, open-science principles and reproducibility of proposed methods will be a major evaluation factor (refer submission instructions). 

Please do note that the special track does not encourage:

  • Purely opinion-based position statements that may otherwise have no chance of being accepted at the main IJCAI Technical Track.
  • Basic human behavioural research alone, e.g., conducted from mono-disciplinary viewpoints of cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, human-factors etc, without any explicit relation/implication to AI methods design, development, or evaluation.
  • Computational research alone pertaining to some aspect of AI/ML where the human-centred underpinnings and motivations are not unambiguously and systematically articulated as per the methodological motivations of this special track (such work may be better suited for the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 technical track).

Review Process and Final Notification

In the backdrop of the thematic focus of the special track, the technical reviewing process will proceed as follows for every eligible paper fulfilling the mandatory submission requirements:

  1. Papers will be first checked for relevance and compliance with respect to the themes and focus areas of the HAI special track. If a paper is not considered relevant to the special track, it will not undergo a full peer review and be marked as “Out of scope’’. Also note that “out of scope” papers cannot be transferred to the technical track or other tracks at IJCAI-ECAI 2026 (therefore, please carefully determine the suitability of your paper for the HAI track vs. the general technical track).
  1. Papers declared `in-scope’ or fitting to the theme and focus of the special track will undergo a peer-review and will be evaluated based on aforestated criteria,and general aspects such as novelty and originality of ideas, correctness, clarity, and the significance of results, potential impact and quality of the presentation etc.

!! Important !! – Results of both `in-scope’ and `out of scope’ papers will be announced to contributing authors only at the end of the overall review period. By submitting a paper, submitted authors would acknowledge that they are aware of this process, and that under no circumstance would the authors receive any indication of the status of their paper till the final notification deadline.

Submission of Contributions

Research papers are to be submitted with the same format and general instructions as for the main conference ( https://2026.ijcai.org/ ); there will be no rebuttal phase for the special track. The following are the other key submission considerations:

  • Formatting guidelines:

The updated LaTeX styles and Word template are available at https://www.ijcai.org/authors_kit.

  • Multiple Submissions: 

Each author, be it first or otherwise, is limited to authorship in exactly one submission as part of the HAI special track; submissions not meeting this requirement will be disqualified without further communication. Please also consult the Publication Policy (details below), particularly the new rules concerning the “Primary Paper Initiative” that is novel to IJCAI-ECAI 2026.

  • Author Information: 

Full papers must be submitted through the same site by the paper submission deadline. The list of author names provided at the Author Information Deadline is final. Authors may not be added to or removed from papers following submission. (The author’s ordering may still be changed during the camera-ready period.) Providing accurate author details is essential for managing the paper workflow process. Therefore, all authors must register and fill out the author information form on the submission site by the Author Information deadline. Please note that ORCID is now compulsory! Submissions may be rejected without review if any co-author fails to register and submit the necessary information.

  • HAI Track Motivation Statement: 

During the submission, authors will be required to include a brief (text-only) motivation statement describing why their work is fitting for the HAI special track (e.g., as opposed to the general IJCAI-ECAI 2026 technical track) and the manner in which the authors believe their work addresses the themes and methodological focus of the HAI track. Please consult the submission system in good time to learn about this requirement and get an overall view of the information required. In this context, authors will also be required to explicitly provide information about the inter/multidisciplinary nature of their research (if applicable), concretely describing the nature of the scientific collaboration being reported as well as the scientific background of the contributing authors themselves.

  • Paper Length and Formatting:  

Papers submitted to IJCAI-ECAI 2026 must be formatted according to the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 guidelines (link above). Submissions must be self-contained. Authors are required to submit their electronic papers in PDF format. Submissions that violate the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 style (e.g., by decreasing margins or font sizes) will be rejected without review. 

Papers must be no longer than 9 pages in total: 7 pages for the body of the paper and 2 pages for references. Papers not conforming to this requirement will be desk-rejected. Please ensure to remove any identifying meta-information (such as author names etc) from the uploaded PDF documents.

  • Parallel Submission:  

Double / parallel submission to the general/main track IJCAI track, to other special tracks, or to other conferences or journals is strictly forbidden at any stage during the entire review process. Papers not meeting this requirement will be immediately excluded from further consideration.

  • Registered Email ID: 

Each author must have a valid, registered email ID within the conference management system used for IJCAI-ECAI 2026. The track chairs reserve the right to disqualify papers where listed co-author do not have a registered email ID, or if contributing authors use different emails for their diverse roles in IJCAI-ECAI 2026. Contributing authors who are also involved in the review process at IJCAI-ECAI 2026, and more broadly all individuals involved in IJCAI-ECAI 2026, are required to also adhere to the IJCAI conflict of interest policy. Details can be found at: 

https://www.ijcai.org/IJCAI_Conflict_of_Interest_Policy.pdf

  • (Confidential) Supplementary Material: 

As applicable, confidential supplementary material of potentially two types may be submitted: (1) Open-Science related supplementary material exclusively including source-code, data, readme, documentation, demo video; and (2) Resubmission information for papers that have been previously rejected and are being re-submitted with or without revisions (refer details below on “Resubmission Information”). 

All supplementary material is to be exclusively submitted via the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 paper submission system. Deadline extensions for submission of such material are not possible, and reviewers will be advised to not utilise external links etc to access such material (i.e., please do not link any material from the PDF(s)). Please be judicious in your submission of the supplementary material: the supplementary is not a place to write an extended paper / additional results, or to provide a technical elaboration of some aspects of your main paper. Videos should only serve the purpose of a demo.

  • Online Open-Science Resources Link: 

Independent of the confidential open-science resources submitted as part of the supplementary material (refer above), the online paper submission form will also make it possible for authors to include a URL to an online resource where source-code or executable material (etc) are available (e.g., GitHub / Docker / Notebooks etc). This link or the material therein need not necessarily be confidential, but it can be confidential if the authors desire and are able to do so (e.g., resources such as https://anonymous.4open.science/ are available for such purposes). Only the special track chair(s) will have access to this link and the available information will be used during the review phase if necessary. Please note that this URL is not a substitute for the confidential open-science related supplementary material, but an optional accessory for those authors who seek to demonstrate this level of dissemination.

  • Resubmission Information: 

Previously rejected paper resubmissions are welcome, but authors are required to provide detailed resubmission information, as described below in the section on Resubmission Information. Failure to declare a resubmission, or to submit relevant information will lead to automatic disqualification. See also details below pertaining `Resubmission information’.

  • Anonymity and Author Information: 

The PDF of the paper and other supporting documents (meant for peer review) must be anonymous, and papers and authors are expected to satisfy the highest scientific standards as per the general rules of submission, conflict of interest, and overall ethical conduct applicable to IJCAI-ECAI 2026. Review is double blind, but all authors must provide author information as part of the submission system (see the point above about Valid Email ID).

RESUBMISSION INFORMATION: 

Authors must declare whether their paper has been previously rejected from another peer-reviewed conference in the past (e.g., mere changes of title and minor content editing or re-working in relation to a previously rejected paper would not qualify the submission to be a new paper). 

Authors are requested to upload the latest rejected version together with the original reviewer’s comments; a cover letter responding to the reviews is encouraged. To avoid bias, the resubmission information will only be made available to reviewers of the special track after they submit their reviews. The program committee reserves the right to reject papers that fail to report resubmission information at any stage of the review process. Please note that reviewers will be encouraged to check whether the resubmission addresses the key issues pointed out in the reviews of the previous version (e.g., incorrect attribution of results, etc.) and to reject submissions that fail to do so. IJCAI chairs reserve the right to consult previously involved program chairs of the conference where the paper was previously rejected.

Submission Site

Papers should be submitted via The chairing Tool: https://chairingtool.com/conferences/IJCAIECAI2026/human-centred-ai?role=author

Submission and Publication Policies

The following publication policy / conditions of publication are applicable for all papers in the special track on Human-Centred AI:

  • Primary Paper Initiative.  

IJCAI-ECAI 2026 is launching the Primary Paper Initiative in response to the international AI research community’s call to address challenges and to revitalize the peer review process, while strengthening the reviewers and authors in the process. Under the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 Primary Paper Initiative, every submission is subject to a fee of USD 100. That paper submission fee is waived for primary papers, i.e., papers for which none of the authors appear as an author on any other submission to IJCAI-ECAI 2026. The initiative applies to the main track, Survey Track, and all special tracks, excluding the Journal Track, the Sister Conferences Track, Early Career Highlights, Competitions, Demos, and the Doctoral Consortium. All proceeds generated from the Primary Paper Initiative will be exclusively directed toward the support of the reviewing community of IJCAI-ECAI 2026. To recognize the reviewers’ contributions, the initiative introduces Peer Reviewer Recognition Policy with clearly defined standards (which will be published on the conference web site). The initiative aims to enhance review quality, strengthen accountability, and uphold the scientific excellence of the conference. Details and the FAQ will be published on the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 website.

  • Publication in IJCAI-ECAI 2026 Proceedings.

All accepted special track papers will be published as part of the main IJCAI-ECAI 2026 proceedings.  All special track papers have the same publication status like other accepted contributions in the technical track.

  • Participation in the conference.

At least one author of each accepted paper must participate in the conference at Bremen and present the work. We are looking forward to the community meeting in person. Papers not presented in person will be excluded from the proceedings unless one of the authors provides notification of exceptional circumstances to IJCAI via pcchair@2026.ijcai.org. Any such exceptional circumstances must receive prior approval from IJCAI.

  • Ethics Policy and Ethics Statement.

IJCAI is committed to the highest standards of research integrity. Submissions must adhere to fundamental ethical principles, including the responsible use of datasets (respecting privacy, copyright, and informed consent) and mitigating potential societal harms (such as risks to safety, and issues related to discrimination and bias).

Consistent with the previous editions of the conference, IJCAI-ECAI 2026 will implement a streamlined ethics review policy. Reviewers will be asked to flag glaring violations of ethical principles. Such flagged submissions will be reviewed by the Ethics Chair. In rare situations, the Program Chair, advised by the Ethics Chair, reserves the right to reject a submission on ethical grounds. However, we anticipate that the primary approach to addressing ethical concerns will require authors to revise their submissions to include a discussion that identifies these concerns and proposes strategies for their mitigation.

Authors can include in the main body of their paper, or on the reference pages, an ethics statement that addresses both ethical issues regarding the research being reported and the broader ethical impact of the work. Note that such an ethics statement is not required, but we recommend that papers working with sensitive data or on sensitive tasks include such discussion. The IJCAI review form will include a section asking reviewers and ACs to flag any serious ethical concerns.

  • Conflict of interest policy. 

All individuals involved in the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 review process must adhere to the IJCAI conflict of interest policy. Details can be found at:

https://www.ijcai.org/IJCAI_Conflict_of_Interest_Policy.pdf

All authors of papers submitted to IJCAI-ECAI 2026 agree to be bound by the conditions outlined in this call for papers (w.r.t. multiple submissions, authorship, resubmission policy, submission limit, etc.). Authors and reviewers acknowledge that IJCAI may take action against individuals in breach of the conflict of interest and call for papers policies, including – but not limited to – rejecting their submissions without further review and banning individuals from submitting their work to a limited number of IJCAI conferences in the future.

  • Confidentiality policy. 

All submissions will be handled with strict confidentiality until their publication date.

  • Submission limit: 

IJCAI-ECAI 2026 will enforce a strict submission limit. Each author is limited to no more than 8 submissions to IJCAI-ECAI 2026.

  • Keywords: 

When submitting abstracts, authors must choose up to three content area keywords. General categories should be used only if specific categories do not apply or do not accurately reflect the main contributions. The full list of keywords will be available on the submission site.

  • Copyright: 

IJCAI-ECAI 2026 will be conducted in accordance with IJCAI guidelines. All accepted papers will be published exclusively by IJCAI (open access), with IJCAI retaining the copyright.

  • Preprints: 

The existence of non-anonymous preprints (on arXiv, social media, websites, etc.) and prior publication in non-archival venues will not result in rejection. Note that the submission to IJCAI-ECAI 2026 must always be anonymized regardless of whether a preprint has been released. Reviewers will be instructed not to look for such preprints actively, but encountering them will not constitute a conflict of interest.

  • Reproducibility: 

Authors must follow the reproducibility guidelines (available here) and checklist at the time of paper submission.

  • Ethics Statement: 

Authors may include a statement of the potential broader impact of their work, including its ethical aspects and future societal consequences. This part can be put in either the main body of the paper or on the reference pages. It is optional but is highly recommended for papers working with sensitive data or on sensitive tasks.

  • Dual submissions: 

IJCAI-ECAI 2026 will not accept any paper that, at the time of full paper submission, is under review for, has already been published in or has already been accepted for publication in a journal or another venue with formally published proceedings. Authors of IJCAI-ECAI 2026 submissions are also not permitted to submit their paper to a journal or another venue with formally published proceedings during the IJCAI-ECAI 2026 review period. (As a guideline, authors should regard publications with a DOI, ISBN, or ISSN as formal publications. Questions about submission eligibility should be referred to the Special Track Chair before the deadline.)

Human-Centred AI Track Chair

Mehul Bhatt
Örebro University, Sweden 
CoDesign Lab EU > Artificial and Human Intelligence 
Enquiries:  human-centred-ai@2026.ijcai.org

Please direct all special track related queries to the special track email listed above. We cannot guarantee a response to inquiries directed to other emails IDs.