Call for Papers: 3rd Workshop on ‘Public Interest AI’

The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) will co-host a workshop at the 49th German Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Bremen, Germany. We look forward to your submission by 1 June 2026.  The workshop focuses on the rapidly growing number of AI projects aimed at serving the public interest or common good, addressing the challenges in transparency around their execution and impact in areas like health, mobility, and justice systems.

3rd Workshop on ‘Public Interest AI’

11 August 2026
Co-located with the 49th German Conference on AI (KI 2026)
Messe Bremen (Exhibition Center) Bremen, Germany
Hosted by Theresa Züger & Hadi Asghari

Aim & Scope

The number of AI projects aiming to serve the common good or a public interest is increasing rapidly. AI4Good is presented as a theme by companies such as Google and Microsoft, the ITU and also reached the political sphere, such as the AI Action Summit in 2025. However, discursive spaces are missing which discuss concrete impacts, their assessment and the conceptualisations of “good” and collective benefits these projects aim to achieve. 

In this interdisciplinary workshop, we will connect public interest theory to the debate about AI projects and foster exchange amongst existing projects that use AI with the aim to serve the public interest to explore common challenges, methods, and standards.  

This workshop builds upon the lively discussions we had in the KI2023/and 2024 edition. This includes discussing the concept of public interest AI / AI for the common good and bringing together researchers and practitioners in the field. The aim is to host a discussion on the criteria, necessary processes, and societal conditions for AI systems to serve the public interest. It will also provide room to learn from other projects and their experiences of AI for the public interest in practice. 

The motivation to use AI for a common good is claimed widely. Aside from the popularity of the claim, the qualities that stand for the common good or public interest of AI are rather fuzzy. We hope this workshop can contribute to an exchange of recent empirical and conceptual research findings in this area and spark a discussion on public interest AI and the economic, organisational, and technological conditions underpinning its success and sustainable impact. 

This workshop addresses AI from an interdisciplinary perspective bringing the goal of serving public interest to the forefront. We encourage submissions that report on work in progress, case studies, tools, or present a synthesis of empirical insights on AI for the public interest. Topics of interest can touch upon the following list and need to also include an explicit public interest discussion:

• AI for democracy
• AI for accessibility
• AI for digitalisation of public administration
• AI for equality & equitable AI
• AI for journalism & culture 
• AI for mobility
• AI for public safety
• AI for public health and medicine
• AI for sustainability & SDGs
• AI in service of studying systemic risks and harms
• Critical assessments of (‘fake’) public interest AI systems
• Data governance of public interest AI systems
• Evaluation and auditing of public interest AI systems
• Human agency and human oversight for AI in the public interest
• Issues of fairness, accountability, and transparency (in public interest AI)
• Theoretical discussion on public interest AI

Important Dates

Deadline for submission: 1 June 2026
Notification of authors: 1 July 2026
Camera-ready paper: 10 July 2026
Workshop: 11 August 2026 (time tbd.)

Submission Details

Papers between 5 to 9 ‘standard’ pages (excl. references) may be submitted. Papers need to be anonymised (double-blind review process) and written in English. Submissions are done via EasyChair.

Organising Chairs 

• Dr. Theresa Züger, primary contact: zueger@hiig.de
• Dr. Hadi Asghari, secondary contact: hadi.asghari@tu-berlin.de

Program Committee

• Dr. Hadi Asghari – Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society (Germany)
• Dr. Theresa Züger – Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society (Germany)
• Dr. Anna Colom – Data Tank (UK)
• Dr. Sami Nenno – TU Dresden
• Dr. Laura State – Alexander Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society (Germany)
• Prof. Daphne Ezer – University of York
• Lea Rogliano – FARI – AI for the Common Good Institute
• Dr. Carl Mörch – FARI – AI for the Common Good Institute
• Lena Winter – Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet & Society (Germany)