ANLP-2026

• Fazel Keshtkar, ST JOHN'S University [keshtkaf@stjohns.edu] 

• Chutima Boonthum-Denecke, Hampton University, [chutima.boonthum@hamptonu.edu] 

• Zak Kurdi, Lynchburg University [kurdi_m@lynchburg.edu]

What is ANLP? 

 The Applied Natural Language Processing (ANLP) Special Track provides a focused forum for researchers, practitioners, and developers working in natural language processing (NLP), computational linguistics (CL), and AI-powered language technologies. In the era of Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs), the field is undergoing transformative advances in how machines understand, generate, and reason over human language. These breakthroughs are driving innovation across domains such as education, healthcare, security, robotics, and interactive systems. This track welcomes contributions that explore both foundational methodologies and applied systems. Particularly those leveraging GenAI and LLMs for real-world impact.

🎯 Track Goals

The goal of the ANLP track is to showcase cutting-edge research and applications that address current and emerging challenges in human language technologies, particularly those involving human-AI interaction, multimodal understanding, trustworthy language generation, and NLP for scientific, educational, or social good. 

👥 Who might be interested?

 We invite submissions from researchers and practitioners in:

• Natural Language Processing & CL

• Machine Learning & Deep Learning

• Human-Computer Interaction

• Generative AI for Education and Tutoring

• Trustworthy and Responsible AI

• Speech, Multimodal, and Dialogue Systems

• Computational Social Science

• Knowledge Representation and Reasoning

• Applied AI in industry, government, or education 

🧪 Topics of Interest (not limited to)

We welcome original papers, demos, and applied case studies in (but not limited to) the following areas:

🌐 Modern NLP & GenAI Applications

• Large Language Models (e.g., GPT, Claude, PaLM) in real-world applications

•  Prompt engineering, instruction tuning, and alignment methods

• Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and tool-augmented LLMs

• Multimodal and vision-language models

• Code generation, code repair, and LLMs for programming education

• Trust, safety, fairness, and hallucination mitigation in GenAI

🧠 Core NLP & Representation Learning

• • Contextual semantics, embeddings, and representation learning

  • Language grounding and situated reasoning

  • Symbolic-NLP hybrids, neuro-symbolic methods

  • Transfer learning, continual learning, and few-shot generalization

💬 Dialogue, Interaction, and HCI

• Conversational agents and task-oriented dialogue systems

• Embodied agents and robots with language capabilities

• Human-AI co-writing, co-creation, and mixed-initiative systems

• Interactive tutoring systems powered by LLMs

• Speech-to-text and speech-based NLP pipelines

🎓 NLP for Education and Social Impact

• Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) and NLP-driven feedback

• NLP in learning analytics, assessment, and student modeling

•   AI-powered textbook augmentation and curriculum design

•   Low-resource NLP and language inclusion

•   NLP for civic tech, accessibility, and underserved communities

🧰 Tools, Resources, and Evaluation

• Corpus creation, annotation frameworks, and benchmarking

• Responsible dataset curation and evaluation practices

• Open-source tools, APIs, and NLP infrastructure

• Human evaluation of language generation and alignment

All accepted papers will be published in the FLAIRS proceedings. Select submissions may be invited for journal special issues or demo showcases. 

Program Committee

Justin Brunelle, (MITRE, USA)

Syed Ahmad Bukhari, (St. John's University, USA)

Christoforos Christoforou, (St. john's University, USA)

Diana Inkpen, (University of Ottawa, Canada)

Fazel Keshtkar, (St. John's University, USA)

Muhammed Kurdi, (Lynchburg College, USA)

Haiying Li, (ACT, USA)

Mihai Lintean, (EdClub Inc., USA)

Md Suruz Miah, (Bradley University, USA)

Timothy Oladunni, (University of the District of Columbia, USA)

Michael Wiegand, (Institute for German Language/Heidelberg University, Germany)

Nikhil Yadav, (St. John's University, USA) 

Christel Kemke (University of Manitoba)

Nobal B. Niraula (Being Research and Technology) 

Conference Proceedings

Papers will be refereed and all accepted papers will appear in the conference proceedings, which will be published by TBA

In cooperation with: Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence 

Submission Guidelines 

Interested authors should format their papers according to AAAI formatting guidelines. The papers should be original work (i.e., not submitted, in submission, or submitted to another conference while in review). Papers should not exceed six pages (2 pages for a poster) and are due by abstract: Jan 19, 2026 (firm) and full paper: Jan 26, 2026. For FLAIRS-39, the 2026 conference, the reviewing is a double-blind process. Fake author names and affiliations must be used on submitted papers to provide double-blind reviewing. Papers must be submitted as PDFs through the EasyChair conference system, which can be accessed through the main conference website (https://www.flairs-39.info/call-for-papers).

 Note: Do not use a fake name for your EasyChair login - your EasyChair account information is hidden from reviewers. Authors should indicate the ANLP special track for submissions. 

The Florida OJ will publish the proceedings of FLAIRS.. FLAIRS requires that there be at least one full author registration per paper. 

Please, check the website https://www.flairs-39.info/home for further information.

Invited Speaker: TBA

Title: TBA

Further Information 

Questions regarding the Applied Natural Language Processing Special Track should be addressed to the special track co-chairs:

• •  Fazel Keshtkar, ST JOHN'S University, keshtkaf@stjohns.edu

  • Chutima Boonthum-Deneck, Hampton University, (chutima.boonthum@hamptonu.edu)

For information about the program, contact:

Conference Chair:

Soon Ae Chun, City University of New York, USA (soon.chun@csi.cuny.edu)

Program Co-Chairs:

Doug Talbert, Tennessee  Tech University, USA (DTalbert@tntech.edu) 

Ismaïl Biskri, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (Ismail.Biskri@uqtr.ca)

 Special Track and Tutorial Coordinator:

Chris Alvin,  Furman University (chris.alvin@furman.edu)

Conference Organization: 

Geoff Sutcliffe (geoff@cs.miami.edu): Zoom Service

• Submit papers using this link: EasyChair.