Scope & Topics
Conference Theme
The theme for HAI 2026 will be “From Interaction to Agency: Navigating Autonomy in HAI.” We are witnessing a fundamental shift as artificial agents—including LLM-based agents, AI assistants, and autonomous robots—evolve from reactive interfaces into autonomous entities with “agency”: the capacity to act proactively and make independent decisions to achieve complex goals. This transition redefines the human-machine partnership, moving from passive interaction toward shared autonomy. HAI 2026 focuses on how we navigate this new landscape, addressing challenges in delegation, trust, and the psychological impact of living with agentic AI systems. While all submissions related to HAI are welcome, you are especially encouraged to submit papers in line with the theme. The HAI conference seeks contributions from a broad range of disciplines such as engineering, computer science, psychology, sociology, cognitive science, business, marketing, and design.
Topics of Interest
Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Autonomous and adaptive agents/systems
- Interaction with generative AI and foundation models
- Human-AI collaboration and teaming
- Multi-agent interaction
- Trust, delegation, and control in agentic AI systems
- Impacts of embodiment
- Character and avatar design
- Experience design
- Agents in applications, e.g. self-driving cars, social networks
- Agents in business and marketing
- Agents in healthcare
- Gaming and serious games
- Social simulation
- Ethical and societal implications of autonomous agents
Methods and contributions include, but are not limited to:
- Quantitative/qualitative empirical studies
- Theoretical modeling
- Experimental methods
- Technological advances