AI + HADR 2026

The AI+HADR Symposium will bring together the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) communities in order to facilitate the application of AI to real-world disasters and humanitarian crises. Disasters, whether natural or man-made, are one of the oldest threats to both individuals and the societies in which they co-exist. To minimize loss of human life and harm to property, humanity has sought technologies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters that range from earthquakes and fires to disease outbreaks and armed conflicts. Artificial intelligence offers many possibilities for enabling faster, more equitable response and recovery, as well as prevention or mitigation. However, a major barrier to leveraging AI is understanding the HADR domain, especially the specific decision objectives and solution constraints; these topics are not found in textbooks but through the experience of HADR practitioners. 

This symposium will continue to bridge these academic and operational communities through the meaningful dialogue begun in the previous workshops. By the end of the symposium, the research community will be exposed to the practical challenges of aiding those experiencing crises, thereby informing their research, while the HADR community can explore the state-of-the-art landscape and practice in machine learning and how they might adopt it. The ultimate goal of this series is to help build and support the pipeline that transitions the research created by the AI community into practice for the real world.