AIART 2026 Call for Papers
AIART 2026 Call for Papers
AIART 2026 Call for Papers
The 8th IEEE Workshop on
Artificial Intelligence for Art Creation
Overview
Recent advances brought by Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM), Multimodal Agents, and Embodied Intelligence have been powerful driving forces for art generation and understanding, drawing more and more attention from both academia and industry. Across creative fields, AI has already sparked new genres and experimentations in painting, music, film, storytelling, fashion and design. Researchers explore the human and AI co-creativity as well as the ethical implications of AI arts. AI has been applied to art historical research, cultural heritage revitalization, and media studies. The aesthetic value of AI generated content and AI’s impact on art appreciation have also been a contended subject in recent scholarship. AI has not only exhibited creative potential, but also stimulated research from diverse perspectives of neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, literature, art history, media and communication studies. Despite all these promising features of AI for Art, we still have to face the many challenges such as the biases in AI models, lack of transparency and interpretability in algorithms, and copyright issues of training data and AI Art works.
This is the 8th AIART workshop to be held in conjunction with ICME 2026 in Bangkok, Thailand, and it aims to bring forward cutting-edge technologies and most recent advances in the area of AI art as well as perspectives from related disciplines.
The theme topic of AIART 2026 will be Multimodal Agents for AI Art. We plan to invite 5 keynote speakers to present their insightful perspectives on AI art.
Topics
We sincerely invite high-quality papers presenting or addressing issues related to AI art, including but not limited to the following topics:
Track 1: Theories for AI Art
Neuroscience
Cognitive science and Psychology
Aesthetics
Creativity
Arts (Fine Arts, Arts and Crafts, Performing Arts, Interdisciplinary Arts, Literature and Art)
Track 2: AI for Art Generation
AI for painting and calligraphy
AI for video and movie
AI for music and audio
AI for literature
AI for design
AI for videogame
Adaptive expression
Track 3: AI for Art Understanding
Affective computing
Aesthetic evaluation
Multimodal agents
Embodied intelligence
World foundation models
Track 4: AI Art in Extended Reality (XR)
AI-driven procedural generation for VR/AR worlds
Virtual humans and digital performers
AI choreography for volumetric video and motion capture
Physics-aware and interactable generative assets
Track 5: Human–AI Co-Creation & Interaction
Interactive AI tools for artists
Real-time co-creation systems
XR/VR/AR environments for human–AI creative expression
Human–AI agency and authorship models
Perception and UX research in creative tool design
Track 6: AI for Humanity and the Humanities
AI for cultural heritage
AI for media studies
AI for social justice
AI for accessibility
AI for empathy
AI for textual analysis
AI ethics and safety
Authentication and IPR issues of AI artworks
Deepfake detection for creative industries
The authors of selected high-quality papers will be invited to submit an extended version to the Machine Intelligence Research (MIR) journal published by Springer, and the Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (TAI) journal published by Scilight.
Additionally, Best Paper Award will be given.
AIART 2026 will continue to organize the 2nd AIART Gallery for artists to showcase their creative AI artworks in the form of in-person gallery. The AIART Gallery will provide a great opportunity for people to experience interactive artworks and communicate creative ideas.
Submission
Authors should prepare their manuscript according to the Guide for Authors of ICME available at Author Information and Submission Instructions: https://2026.ieeeicme.org/author-information-and-submission-instructions/
Submission address: https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/ICMEW2026
Important Dates
Submissions due:March 25, 2026
Workshop date:During July 5-9 2026
Homepage
https://aiart2026.github.io/
Technical Program Committee
Please check the homepage for the full list of TPC members.
Keynotes
Yong Xiang
Title:Aesthetics Intelligence-based Decoding, Activation and Utilization of Human Memeplex: from China's Practice
Time:TBD
Abstract:This keynote speech centers on the core concept of "aesthetic intelligence", exploring how to decode, activate and utilize human memes(cultural genes), with a focus on sharing China's innovative practices in relevant fields. The "Luoshen Project", hosted by the Institute of Cultural Industries at Peking University, aims to build core infrastructure supporting the digital development of Chinese culture. Its key achievement, the "Chinese Aestheme Project", systematically sorts out and digitally analyzes core traits of Chinese aesthetics such as "the interdependence of the virtual and the real" and "vital spirit and rhythmic vitality", classifying them into nine major meme categories.
The "Luoshen Fu AI Creator", developed based on this project embodies the deep integration of culture and technology. It has evolved from a text-to-text tool in Version 1.0 into a multimodal intelligent agent with text-to-image and text-to-video capabilities. By training on a specialized dataset of traditional Chinese paintings and calligraphy works and applying advanced fine-tuning techniques, this tool strives to reproduce the unique "spiritual charm" and "artistic conception" of traditional Chinese art in digital generation, rather than merely imitating forms.
This series of practices explores a new paradigm for the activation of cultural heritage in the AI era. It not only serves academic research and the cultural industry by lowering the threshold for creating "China-chic" content, but also has a deeper goal: to infuse intelligent agents with Chinese aesthetic wisdom, inherit and promote the spirit of Eastern aesthetics in the digital civilization era, and offer a reference for Thailand and other countries in implementing cultural digital and intelligent engineering.
Biography:Dr. Yong Xiang is a Professor of the School of Arts at Peking University (SAPKU) and Dean of the Institute for Cultural Industries at Peking University (ICIPKU), where he is leader of Cultural Economics and Creative Management Project. His academic interest is focusing on cultural & creative industries, management of the art, culture and creativity. He has visited some universities in USA, UK, Italy, Australia, Japan, South Korea in these years. He was Academic Visitor, Judge Business School, the University of Cambridge (2010-2011),and visiting scholar at Faculty of Economics Marco Biagi, University of Modena, Reggio Emilia(Otc.2010), Italy. He was Honorary Visiting Professor of Business School at London Metropolitan University from 2010 to 2013, Guest Professor to The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019.He is a senior cultural and creative industries (CCIs) consultant to the governments, companies and institutions in China and UNCTAD. He was awarded one of the Top 10 Excellent Scholars of CCI in China in 2012. He is co-editors of China Cultural and Creative Industries Reports 2013, which is published by Springer and is a joint founder of the International Association of Culture and Creative Industries (London, HongKong), Member of the Advisory Committee of the International Center for Creativity and Sustainable Development under the auspices of UNESCO Since 2019. He is UNESCO Chairholder on Creativity and Sustainable Development in Rural Areas Since 2024.
Kang Zhang
Title:Generative Art and Its Fusion of Eastern and Western Styles
Time:TBD
Abstract:In this talk, I will first focus on conceptual and theoretical foundation of generative art, part of computational aesthetics. Specifically, generative visual art is defined in terms of visual languages, and thus the roles of artists and generative systems become clear. I will then present our recent practices in generative art and design for the effective fusion of Eastern and Western artistic styles. The first practice combines the styles of Wassily Kandinsky and Wu Guanzhong, who are both great masters of using points, lines and planes in their paintings. The AI-fused Eastern and Western styles yield highly aesthetic images. The second practice applies AI techniques to Dongba scripts of the Chinese minority group Naxi in Yunnan Province, and then generates Miro’s surrealism style. Both works have been successfully applied to produce highly demanded design products. Other recent research in computational aesthetics will also be mentioned.
Biography:Kang Zhang is Professor and Former Head of Computational Media and Arts, Information Hub, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Professor of Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas, HKUST, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, The University of Texas at Dallas, and Guest Professor of China Academy of Arts. He was a Fulbright Distinguished Chair and among Stanford’s List of 2023-2025 World’s Top 2% Scientists (Lifetime Impact), and held academic positions in China, the UK, Australia and USA. Zhang's current research interests include computational aesthetics, visual languages, and generative art and design; and has published 8 books, and over 130 journal papers in these areas. He has delivered keynotes at art and design, computer science, and management conferences and forums.
Mang Ye
Title:From Guesswork to Empathy: Unlocking Emotional Insight in Multimodal Al
Time:TBD
Abstract:Nowadays, Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) can write essays, caption photos, and chat for hours—but they still struggle with something humans do almost automatically: sensing emotions. Our work pushes MLLMs toward stronger emotion understanding by grounding them in realistic emotion-focused evaluation, teaching them to rely on the cues that actually signal feelings (rather than superficial shortcuts), and shaping their predictions to be more careful and consistent through guided reasoning and self-checking. This helps models handle a wider range of emotion-related situations in images and videos, including subtle and socially loaded content people actually encounter online, while producing answers that are more stable, better justified, and less guessy.
Biography:Mang Ye is a Full Professor, Head of the Department of Intelligent Science, School of Computer Science, Wuhan University. His research interests include multimodal learning and affective computing. He has published more than 100 top-tier journal/conference papers, and has been recognized as an ESI Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate. He serves as an Area Chair for top conferences, including CVPR, ICML, ICLR, ACM MM, and ECCV, and as an Associate Editor for IEEE TIFS and IEEE TIP. He has served as PI on more than 10 scientific research projects, including grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the National Key R&D Program of China. His awards include the CSIG Science and Technology Award (2025), the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award (2025), and the ACM China-Wuhan Rising Star Award (2023).
Jirapun Daengdej
Title:From Case-Based Reasoning to Case-Based Creativity: A Conceptual Framework for Multimodal Agents
Time:TBD
Abstract:While multimodal generative models offer immense expressive potential, they often function as "black boxes" lacking a mechanism to leverage structured precedents. We propose a conceptual framework for Case-Based Creativity (CBC), which utilizes a hybrid symbolic–neural architecture to bridge the gap between generative intuition and logical intent. This approach adapts foundational principles of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) to create a memory-driven system where a symbolic layer retrieves and adapts "artistic cases"—comprising past design patterns and constraints—to guide a neural synthesis layer. By discussing modeled outputs that reflect this hybrid logic, we illustrate how agents might maintain semantic persistence and intentionality by grounding expressive neural generation within a structured symbolic context. We argue that the integration of CBR and generative AI offers a compelling conceptual direction for next-generation systems that prioritize adaptation and human–AI collaboration.
Biography:Dr. Jirapun Daengdej is a Professor at the Graduate School of Business and Advanced Technology Management (GS-BATM), Assumption University. He is also the Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Innocop, a company specializing in designing and developing AI solutions for the financial and energy sectors. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of New England, Australia, where he developed one of the world’s largest Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) systems for the insurance industry. A recipient of two IBM Faculty Awards for his contributions to real-world software engineering, he previously served as an Executive Technical Advisor to global organizations. Over a period of more than 15 years, he worked on software tools used by companies such as Boeing, Rolls-Royce, and leading automotive manufacturers. His work focuses on integrating symbolic reasoning with practical AI architectures to address complex industrial challenges.
Organizing Team
Luntian Mou
Beijing University of Technology
Beijing, China
ltmou@bjut.edu.cn
Dr. Luntian Mou is an Associate Professor with the School of Information Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Artificial Intelligence (BIAI), Beijing University of Technology. He received the Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, China in 2012. He served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Peking University, from 2012 to 2014. And he was a Visiting Scholar with the University of California, Irvine, from 2019 to 2020. He initiated the IEEE Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Art Creation (AIART) in 2019, and has organized the workshop annually ever since. His current research interests include artificial intelligence, machine learning, multimedia computing, affective computing, and brain-like computing. He is the recipient of Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Advancement Award, IEEE Outstanding Contribution to Standardization Award, and AVS Outstanding Contribution on 15th Anniversary Award. He serves as a guest editor for Machine Intelligence Research, and a reviewer for many important international journals and conferences such as TIP, TAFFC, TCSVT, TITS, AAAI, etc. And he serves as a Co-Chair of System subgroup in AVS workgroup. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and CCF, and a Member of ACM, CAAI, and CSIG, and an Expert of MPEG China.
Feng Gao
Peking University
Beijing, China
gaof@pku.edu.cn
Dr. Feng Gao is an Assistant Professor with the School of Arts, Peking University. He has long researched in the disciplinary fields of AI and art, especially in AI painting. He co-initiated the international workshop of AIART. Currently, he is also enthusiastic in virtual human. He has demonstrated his AI painting system, called Daozi, in several workshops and drawn much attention.
Kejun Zhang
Zhejiang University
Hangzhou, China
zhangkejun@zju.edu.cn
Dr. Kejun Zhang is a Professor with Zhejiang University, joint PhD supervisor on Design and Computer Science, Dean of Department of Industrial Design at College of Computer Science of Zhejiang University. He received his PhD degree from College of Computer Science and Technology, Zhejiang University in 2010. From 2008 to 2009, He was a visiting research scholar of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. In June 2013, he became a faculty of the College of Computer Science and Technology at Zhejiang University. His current research interests include Affective Computing,Design Science, Artificial Intelligence, Multimedia Computing and the understanding, modelling and innovation design of products and social management by computational means. He is now the PI of National Science Foundation of China, Co-PI of National Key Research and Development Program of China, and PIs of ten more other research programs. He has authored 4 books, more than 40 scientific papers.
Haonan Cheng
Communication University of China
Beijing, China
haonancheng@cuc.edu.cn
Dr. Haonan Cheng is a Professor with the State Key Laboratory of Media Convergence and Communication, Communication University of China, mainly focuses on audio information processing, audio-visual cross modal generation and forgery detection. She became the first technical expert in China to be awarded the Asia-Pacific Young Engineer Prize by ABU in 2024, and was selected for the Beijing National Governance and Young Talent Cultivation Program in 2025. In recent years, she has published more than 50 SCI/EI papers in IEEE TOG, TIFS, TASLP, SIGGRAPH, IEEE VR, IJCAI, AAAI, ACM MM, etc. She has been authorized 2 national invention patents, and won the Excellent Paper Award in the 5th CSIG China Media Forensics and Security Conference, and Best Poster Paper Award in the 20th International Forum on Digital Multimedia Communications. She was funded by more than 10 projects, including National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key R&D Program, National Social Science Foundation of China, and Medium and Long-term Science and Technology Program for Radio, Television and Audiovisual Network, etc. She serves as a member of the Multimedia Specialized Committee of the Chinese Society of Image and Graphics, the Program Chair of the International Forum on Digital Multimedia Communications, the Forum Chair of the China Multimedia Conference, and the Session Chair of ACM MM and other international conferences.
Ambarish Natu
Australian Government
Australian Capital Territory, Australia
ambarish.natu@gmail.com
Dr. Ambarish Natu is with the Australian Government. After graduating from University of New South Wales, Sydney, Ambarish has held positions as a visiting researcher in Italy and Taiwan, worked for industry in United Kingdom and the United States of America and for the past ten years has been working in the Australian Government. For the past 17 years, Ambarish has led the development of five international standards under the auspices of the International Standards Organization (ISO) popularly known as JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). He is the recipient of the ISO/IEC certificate for contributions to technology standards. Ambarish is highly active in the area of international standardization and voicing Australian concerns in the area of JPEG and MPEG (Motion Pictures Experts Group) standardization. He previously initiated an effort in the area of standardization relating to Privacy and Security in the Multimedia Context both within JPEG and MPEG standard bodies. In 2015, Ambarish was the recipient of the prestigious Neville Thiele Award and the Canberra Professional Engineer of the Year by Engineers Australia. Ambarish currently works as an ICT Specialist for the Australian Government. Ambarish is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society and Engineers Australia. Ambarish also serves on the IVMSP TC and the Autonomous Systems Initiative of the IEEE Signal Processing Society. Ambarish has also been General Chair of DICTA 2018, ICME 2023 and TENSYMP 2023 in the past. Ambarish has keen interest in next generation data and analytics technologies that will change the course of the way we interact with in the world.
Gerui Wang
Lingnan University
Hong Kong, China
geruiwang@ln.edu.hk
Gerui Wang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Digital Arts and Creative Industries at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. She studies media, art, and AI, as well as the intersection of digital arts and ecology. She has published in AsiaScape: Digital Asia, Journal of Visual Art Practice, and Journal of Chinese History. She leads a digital humanities project: Storytelling with AI, archived by Stanford University Libraries. Her research briefs on AI and society have been translated into French, Spanish, Chinese, and Japanese. Her first book, Sustaining Landscapes: Governance and Ecology in Chinese Visual Culture (Hong Kong University Press, 2025), has received publication grants from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation. Her research has been supported by the Software Sustainability Institute, Mellon Foundation, and Freer Fellowships, among others.
Ling Fan
Tongji University Design Artificial Intelligence Lab
Shanghai, China
lfan@tongji.edu.cn
Dr. Ling Fan is a Scholar and Entrepreneur to bridge machine intelligence with creativity. He is the founding chair and professor of Tongji University Design Artificial Intelligence Lab. Before, he held teaching position at the University of California at Berkeley and China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Dr. Fan co-founded Tezign.com, a leading technology start-up with the mission to build digital infrastructure for creative contents. Tezign is backed by top VCs like Sequoia Capital and Hearst Ventures. Dr. Fan is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, an Aspen Institute China Fellow, and Youth Committee member at the Future Forum. He is also a member of IEEE Global Council for Extended Intelligence. Dr. Fan received his doctoral degree from Harvard University and master's degree from Princeton University. He recently published From Universality of Computation to the Universality of Imagination, a book on how machine intelligence would influence human creativity.
Terence Broad
University of the Arts London
London, The United Kingdom
t.broad@arts.ac.uk
Dr. Terence Broad is an Artist and Researcher working in London. He is a Senior Lecturer at the UAL Creative Computing Institute and has recently completed a PhD at Goldsmiths in generative AI. His art and research have been presented internationally: at conferences and journals such as SIGGRAPH, Leonardo, NeurIPS, and ICCC; and museums such as The Whitney Museum of American Art, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Ars Electronica, The Barbican and The Whitechapel Gallery. In 2019 He won the Grand Prize in the ICCV Computer Vision Art Gallery. His work is in the city of Geneva’s contemporary art collection.
Partner1:
Machine Intelligence Research
Machine Intelligence Research (IF:8.7, JCR Q1), published by Springer, and sponsored by Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, is formally released in 2022. The journal publishes high-quality papers on original theoretical and experimental research in artificial intelligence, targets special issues on emerging topics and specific subjects, and strives to bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical applications. The journal has been indexed by ESCI, EI, Scopus, CSCD, etc.
Topics of Machine Intelligence Research include: AI Fundamentals, Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Pattern Recognition & Machine Learning, Machine Vision, Speech and Language Processing, Embodied Intelligence and Robotics, Knowledge Management & Data Mining, and Applications of Machine Intelligence.
MIR official websites
https://www.springer.com/journal/11633
https://www.mi-research.net
MIR Editor-in-Chief
Tan Tieniu, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences
MIR Associate Editors-in-Chief
Yike Guo, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China
Brian C. Lovell, The University of Queensland, Australia
Danilo P. Mandic, Imperial College London, UK
Liang Wang, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
Partner2:
The Transactions on Artificial Intelligence
The Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (TAI) is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing trustworthy, explainable, and human-centered AI. The journal highlights emerging frontiers—including generative AI, autonomous systems, AI safety, and data-centric intelligence—while maintaining strong coverage of core AI theory and methodologies.
TAI official website
https://www.sciltp.com/journals/tai
TAI Editor-in-Chief
Prof. Dapeng Oliver Wu, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Partner3:
The China Society of Image and Graphics
The China Society of Image and Graphics (CSIG), founded in 1990, is a national first-tier academic society approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China and an official member of the China Association for Science and Technology.
CSIG's professional fields include digital image processing, image understanding, computer vision, image compression and transmission, stereoscopic technology, scientific computing visualization, virtual reality, multimedia technology, pattern recognition, computer graphics, medical image processing, computer animation, spatial information systems, and more.
In recent years, CSIG aims to advance the development of related fields and serve national strategic needs. It actively engages in academic exchanges, technical training, exhibitions, science popularization, policy consultation, evaluation of scientific and technological achievements, transformation of research outcomes, talent recommendation, and international cooperation. By serving as a bridge connecting scientists and engineers, CSIG has become a vital social force in promoting innovation and development in the field of image and graphics.
CSIG official website
http://www.csig.org.cn/
Call For Sponsorship
Platinum Level (RMB¥100,000)
- Large booths (size TBD)
- Invitation to give an industry keynote speech
- Logo on AIART 2024 official website with description and link to sponsor website
- Logo on workshop handbook and presentation material (under Platinum Level)
- One on one negotiation for special requirements.
Gold Level (RMB¥50,000)
- Medium booths (size TBD)
- Participation in related industry panel
- Logo on AIART 2024 official website with short description and link to sponsor website
- Logo on workshop handbook and presentation material (under Gold Level)
- One on one negotiation for special requirements.
Silver Level (RMB¥20,000)
- Small booths (size TBD)
- Logo on AIART 2024 official website with link to sponsor website
- Logo on workshop handbook and presentation material (under Silver Level)
Book
Artificial Intelligence for Art Creation and Understanding
Artificial Intelligence for Art Creation and Understanding
Edited By Luntian Mou
eBook Published: 29 August 2024
Imprint: CRC Press
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003406273
ABSTRACT
AI-Generated Content (AIGC) is a revolutionary engine for digital content generation. In the area of art, AI has achieved remarkable advancements. AI is capable of not only creating paintings or music comparable to human masterpieces, but it also understands and appreciates artwork. For professionals and amateurs, AI is an enabling tool and an opportunity to enjoy a new world of art.
This book aims to present the state-of-the-art AI technologies for art creation, understanding, and evaluation. The contents include a survey on cross-modal generation of visual and auditory content, explainable AI and music, AI-enabled robotic theater for Chinese folk art, AI for ancient Chinese music restoration and reproduction, AI for brainwave opera, artistic text style transfer, data-driven automatic choreography, Human-AI collaborative sketching, personalized music recommendation and generation based on emotion and memory (MemoMusic), understanding music and emotion from the brain, music question answering, emotional quality evaluation for generated music, and AI for image aesthetic evaluation.
The key features of the book are as follows:
AI for Art is a fascinating cross-disciplinary field for the academic community as well as the public.
Each chapter is an independent interesting topic, which provides an entry for corresponding readers.
It presents SOTA AI technologies for art creation and understanding.
The artistry and appreciation of the book is wide-ranging – for example, the combination of AI with traditional Chinese art.
This book is dedicated to the international cross-disciplinary AI Art community: professors, students, researchers, and engineers from AI (machine learning, computer vision, multimedia computing, affective computing, robotics, etc.), art (painting, music, dance, fashion, design, etc.), cognitive science, and psychology. General audiences can also benefit from this book.
Purchase Links:
https://www.amazon.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Understanding-Multimedia-Communication/dp/1032523603
https://www.routledge.com/Artificial-Intelligence-for-Art-Creation-and-Understanding/Mou/p/book/9781032523606
https://item.jd.com/10112811679589.html
https://product.dangdang.com/11804604409.html
History
AIART 2025: https://aiart-2025.github.io/, Nantes, France, with ICME 2025
AIART 2024: https://aiart2024.github.io/, Niagra Falls, Canada, with ICME 2024
AIART 2023: https://aiart2023.github.io/, Brisbane, Australia, with ICME 2023
AIART 2022: https://aiart2022.github.io/, online, with ICME 2022
AIART 2021: https://aiart2021.github.io/, online, with MIPR 2021
AIART 2020: https://aiart2020.github.io/, online, with MIPR 2020
AIART 2019: https://aiart2019.github.io/, San Jose, USA, with MIPR 2019
















