The India AI Impact Summit (following summits in London, Seoul and Paris) seeks to “convene global leaders, industry experts, researchers, startups, civil society organisations, and multilateral institutions… to promote international cooperation and inclusive, safe, and trustworthy AI.”. The summit is framed around three guiding principles: People, Planet and Progress. It is the first of the series to take place in, and centre concerns of, the Global South.

The Participatory AI Research and Practice Symposium (PAIRS for short) is an unofficial side event, independently organised to coincide with the AI Impact Summit, and to provide space for dialogue, bridge-building, connections and action exploring how participatory approaches can shape the future impacts of artificial intelligence.

We are inviting submission of abstracts for papers, presentations and posters to be featured in online and in-person sessions of PAIRS 2026.

Abstract submissions for papers, presentations and posters can be made until 31st October here.

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Who is PAIRS for?

We seek to create a space that is equally open to contributions from civil society, academia and industry, and that welcomes both presentation of practice, and empirical or theoretical work.

This call is open to all applicants regardless of geographic location or institutional affiliation. However we are especially interested in receiving applications from civil society organisations based in India; South Asia; Most Affected People and Areas (MAPA); members of the Global Majority or Global South; Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color; women, transgender, non-binary, and/or gender-diverse applicants; migrant and diasporic communities; and/or persons coming from climate displaced/impacted communities, etc. We strongly encourage all such contributors to submit an abstract.

We welcome submissions that represent cross-sector and cross-country collaboration.

We will prioritise work that has not been previously published or presented in research venues. You can see examples of the work presented at PAIRS 2025 here.

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Call for Papers, Presentations and Posters

The case has been widely made that delivering inclusive, safe and trusted AI that operates in the public interest requires sustained engagement of affected communities in decisions about AI design, deployment and governance. Yet, approaches to AI that center community power, participatory practice, and democratic forms of decision making remain the exception rather than the rule.

In the context of the India AI Impact Summit, we are inviting presentations, papers and posters that offer:

• Case studies of participatory practice and public engagement related to AI in public, private, academia and non-profit sectors; and comparative assessment of different cases including cross-method, cross-country, cross-cultural and cross-sector comparison, particularly but not limited to, studies that address India, South-Asia or the Global South.
• Novel evidence/evidence synthesis on public attitudes to AI including quantitative, qualitative and mix-methods studies. We are particularly interested in work that engages with underrepresented communities (e.g. by geography, age, ethnicity, sexuality or social group) or that addresses India, South-Asian and Global South concerns;
• Guidance, frameworks, toolkits and methods for including the voices and concerns of a wide range of people in AI development, governance and response. Addressing processes including (but not limited to) procurement, co-design, audit, advocacy, campaigning and citizen action;
• Critical evaluation of existing participatory AI initiatives at the level of firms, industries, States or specific projects, offering empirical findings and theoretical tools to inform future activities and strategies;
• Translational insights that explore how participatory engagement around AI is understood, perceived or discussed in different cultural settings, legal frameworks, and communities of practice. Submissions highlighting perspectives from the global majority are of special interest;
• Work on facilitating participation including both human-led processes, and practical or critical work on the role of technology platforms and AI tools in supporting scaling and quality-assurance of participatory practice;
• Research review and agenda setting outlining the current state of theory and evidence in participatory AI, and highlighting areas for future focus.

We also invite work that brings new perspectives, alternative approaches and direct public voices into our collective learning as a community of researchers and practitioners.

Each proposal should be directed towards one of three tracks:

• Participatory AI development
• Participatory AI governance
• Participation, power and negotiation