Recommender systems profoundly shape how people discover information, make decisions, and interact with the digital world. As their societal influence grows, traditional metrics such as clicks, accuracy, or engagement no longer fully capture what truly matters to humans. The 2nd Workshop on Human-Centered Recommender Systems (HCRS) calls for a paradigm shift—from engagement-focused optimization toward systems that genuinely understand, empower, and benefit people. This workshop brings together researchers from recommender systems, HCI, AI safety, social computing, and responsible AI to explore the next generation of human-centered and socially aligned recommender technologies.
Important Dates
- Workshop paper submission: January 3, 2026
- Workshop paper notification: January 13, 2026
- Workshop paper camera-ready: February 2, 2026
- Workshops: TBD (Half-day session at TheWebConf 2026)
TIMEZONE: Anywhere On Earth (UTC-12)
Workshop Objectives
This workshop encourages researchers to propose new theoretical frameworks, interdisciplinary approaches, and perspectives for human-centered recommender systems. We aim to:
- Foster discussions on the evolving field of Human-Centered Recommender Systems.
- Encourage interdisciplinary approaches that bridge recommender systems, HCI, AI safety, and social computing.
- Share innovative methodologies, evaluation frameworks, and applications that advance human-aligned and socially responsible recommenders.
- Advocate for the adoption of advanced technologies, such as large language models, to enhance the human-centric qualities of recommender systems.
- Promote diversity and inclusion within the recommender systems community.
Call for Papers
We welcome submissions on the following topics (but not limited to):
- Human Understanding—Systems that understand humans: Modeling user intents, cognition, and affect beyond surface interactions, with multidimensional measures such as satisfaction and trust.
- Human Involvement—Humans in the loop: Enabling interactive, co-adaptive, and controllable systems that empower users to express preferences and co-create content.
- Human Impact—Systems that affect humans and society: Addressing fairness, privacy, transparency, robustness, and societal well-being, while mitigating issues such as echo chambers and filter bubbles.
- Emerging Cross-Domain Topics: LLM-powered recommenders, multi-objective optimization for social good, human-centered evaluation methodologies, and applications in critical domains (education, healthcare, etc.).
For detailed topics and submission guidelines, visit the Call for Papers page.
Submission Guidelines
All submitted papers must be formatted as a single PDF document according to the ACM WWW 2026 template.
- Length: 4-8 pages (up to 4 additional pages for references and appendix if included in proceedings; unlimited otherwise)
- Review Policy: Single-blind review
- Evaluation Criteria: Relevance to the workshop, scientific novelty, and technical quality
Submission Portal: The 2nd Workshop on Human-Centered Recommender Systems @TheWebConf 2026
Program Highlights
This workshop will be conducted over a half-day session featuring:
- Keynote Talks: Three 30-minute keynote talks delivered by leading researchers in HCRS, providing valuable insights into the latest advancements and future prospects.
- Paper Sessions: Presentations of accepted papers showcasing cutting-edge research.
- Panel Discussion: Senior researchers will discuss future directions and challenges in human-centered recommender systems.
