The 40th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence
January 20 – January 27, 2026 | Singapore
Call for Submissions: Emerging Trends in AI (ETA) Track
The Emerging Trends in AI (ETA) track aims to expose the AI community to exciting, underrecognized, or fast-developing ideas from the various AI subdisciplines as well as from adjacent disciplines and domains. Talks in this track will summarize new developments and competitions that are likely to shape future AI research agendas, providing the community with insight into cross-cutting innovations from:
- Communities in AI Sister Conferences, including, but not limited to, the communities represented by: IJCAI, ECAI, AAMAS, AIED, AISTATS, ACL, CIKM, COLT, CogSci, CP, CVPR, DSAA, EC, ECML/PKDD, EMNLP, FOIS, ICAPS, ICCV, ICRA, ICDM, ICLR, ICLP, ICML, IROS, KDD, KR, NAACL, NeSy, NeurIPS, PAKDD, PRICAI, RecSys, RLC, RSS, SIGIR, UAI, WINE, WSDM, and WWW.
- Within and Adjacent Research Communities in AI, such as Cognitive Science, Cybersecurity, Environmental Science and Sustainability, Health Informatics & Bioinformatics, Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Robot Interaction, Law, Policy & Governance, Neuroscience, Psychology & Behavioral Science, Robotics, Software Engineering, and others.
- Industry and Applied Research Laboratories, including teams in corporate or non-academic settings (e.g., industry research labs, startups, government-affiliated R&D centers, and non-profit organizations) that are shaping the frontiers of AI through novel methods, responsible deployment practices, or real-world applications at scale. We particularly encourage submissions that bridge the gap between theory and practice or offer reflective insights from large-scale deployments that inform future research and policy.
Submissions
Submissions to the ETA track should take the form of talks that broadly survey an emerging trend or research trajectory in AI that is rapidly gaining traction, either within an AI subcommunity or in an adjacent community. For example, talks can take the form of a description of:
- Recent research advancements that are revolutionizing a particular subfield of AI.
- The evolution and recent key outcomes in popular competitions.
- Process and challenges in the successful deployment of a pivotal AI system with significant societal implications.
Regardless of the type of talk, it should:
- Highlight key developments and seminal works from the trend.
- Include contributions from multiple researchers and groups (not just the presenter).
- Offer a critical synthesis of the state of the art.
- Optional: Suggest future directions and implications for the broader AI community.
This track is not intended for presenting original research results, nor is it the right venue for comprehensive surveys of well-established fields. Those seeking to reflect on a mature area of research should consider the Senior Member Presentation Track (SMPT), which is designed for that purpose. Similarly, submissions that require in-depth technical instruction, hands-on components, or more extensive coverage of methods and tools should be directed to the Tutorial and Lab Forum. Instead, the ETA track focuses on concise, high-level syntheses of emerging developments from within AI and adjacent communities, highlighting novel directions and their potential influence on the future of AI.
Eligibility
The ETA track is open to researchers of any seniority level who demonstrate:
- Strong familiarity with the target emerging trend and its contributors.
- A clear ability to synthesize and communicate cross-disciplinary developments.
- A record of involvement in or adjacent to the trend (e.g., participation in the relevant conferences, competitions, or practical deployments).
Presenters do not need to be senior AAAI members or affiliated with AAAI, but should be well-positioned to speak with authority about the selected emerging trend.
Submission Requirements
Part 1: Talk Outline and CV (2-3 pages)
The first part of the proposal should include two documents. The first document should have the title, an abstract highlighting why this topic is a “trend”, and an outline of the suggested talk. All these should fit in 1 page (in any reasonable format). The second document is a short CV (up to 2 pages in any reasonable format), totaling 2-3 pages for Part 1. The CV should start with a short description (around 200 words) summarizing why the proposer is qualified to talk about the topic, highlighting specific contributions by the proposer to the proposed topic, whether in the form of published work, commercial products, or service to the research community.
Part 2: Short Presentation (3 minutes)
The second part of the proposal should include a recording of the presenter giving a 3-minute elevator pitch about the talk.
(Optional) Part 3: Overview Paper (2-6 pages + references)
As an option, researchers who submit talk proposals may submit an accompanying paper. Papers should cover the same topic as the talk and are intended to give a synthetic overview of the topic, together with appropriate references. The papers should be self-contained and are intended to be accessible to anyone, including people who did not attend the talks. The papers should be formatted as PDF files using the AAAI style. Submissions are not anonymous. They should include the names and affiliations of the authors. The papers need to be 2-6 pages in length. Additional pages are allowed for references only.
The overview paper will appear in the AAAI-26 proceedings if accepted.
Submission Format
All materials except the presentation (talk outline, CV, and overview paper) must be compiled into a single PDF and submitted through the AAAI online submission portal. Begin each section on a new page. The combined document must not exceed 9 pages, excluding references. The presentation should be submitted in the relevant field in the submission form.
Review Process
All ETA track proposals will be reviewed by a committee of experts across AI and relevant adjacent fields. Selection criteria include:
- Clarity, breadth, and informativeness of the proposed summary talk.
- Relevance of the emerging trend to the AAAI community.
- Presenter qualifications and synthesis capability.
- Presentation quality.
- Overall potential to spark new directions or inform ongoing work in AI.
Contact
For questions about the ETA track, contact the Emerging Trends in AI track co-chairs at aaai26etchairs@aaai.org. All other inquiries should be directed to AAAI at aaai26@aaai.org.
Emerging Trends in AI Track Cochairs
Reuth Mirsky (Tufts University, USA)
Harold Soh (National University of Singapore, Singapore)
William Yeoh (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
Questions
Some questions are answered below. Please contact the track co-chairs for any additional questions.
Q: Can submissions be co-authored?
Yes. While the talk will be presented by a single speaker, the overview paper may be co-authored. The first author must be the talk presenter and should have a strong connection to the topic and the communities involved.
Q: Does submitting only Parts 1 and 2 reduce the chances of my talk being accepted compared to submitting a short paper for Part 3?
Not at all. Submissions are evaluated based on clarity, relevance, and insight, not length. All submissions will be reviewed and considered along the same review criteria. While optional, the paper gives you the opportunity to have your contribution included in the official conference proceedings, providing a lasting and citable record of your work.
Q: Does submitting a 6-page paper in Part 3 increase the chances of my talk being accepted compared to a shorter paper?
Not at all. Submissions will be evaluated based on clarity, relevance, and insight, not length. All submissions will be reviewed and considered along the same review criteria.
Q: What kinds of topics are considered “emerging trends”?
Suitable topics include recent developments gaining traction within AI and adjacent communities that are not yet known to the broader AAAI community. The emphasis is on novel directions or methodologies with the potential to shape future AI research.
Q: Can I submit a talk that summarizes a well-established field?
No. If the topic is a mature area with an extensive body of existing work in AI, it would be more appropriate for the Senior Member Presentation Track (SMPT). The ETA track focuses explicitly on emerging and underrecognized trends.
Q: What if my topic requires technical depth or a hands-on component?
If your goal is to provide detailed instruction or a deep technical dive, the Tutorial and Lab Forum would be a more appropriate venue.
Q: Is this a survey track?
No. The ETA track is not intended for comprehensive surveys of well-established fields. Instead, it focuses on concise, forward-looking syntheses of emerging and underrecognized trends from within AI subdisciplines or adjacent areas.
Q: Is there any relation between this track and the presenter’s AAAI membership status?
No. The ETA track is entirely separate from AAAI membership status. It is open to researchers at any career stage, provided they are well-positioned to synthesize and communicate developments from the target emerging trend.
Q: Can industry researchers submit?
Yes, absolutely. We strongly encourage submissions from industry or applied research laboratories that can offer insight into new directions, deployment practices, or challenges not yet widely studied in academia.
Q: Does the topic have to be interdisciplinary?
Not necessarily. However, many compelling emerging trends arise at the intersection of disciplines. We welcome submissions that distill developments from a single field, as well as those that bridge multiple areas of research.