As we write this, in November 2025, three years after ChatGPT was made available to the general public, ‘AI’ seems to be every­where. Strong in connotation, weak in deno­tation, and deeply entangled in contradictory dis­courses of desire and anxiety, profit and preju­dice, power and injustice, capitalism and en­vironmentalism, ‘AI’ has – for better and for worse – become a keyword of our times. A range of different technologies branded in­dis­criminately as ‘AI’ have ac­quired a discur­sive and material presence in the social world, affecting the lives of millions of people around the globe, in different ways and with different consequences.

Though not the only form of ‘AI’ around, large language models and their deployment as part of text-generative tools have come to be seen as prototypical exemplars of ‘AI’. Lan­guage plays a central role in ‘AI’ – not only as part of the discourses surrounding the tech­nology, but also as part of the technology it­self. It is therefore not surprising that socio­linguists have been keen to explore ‘AI’ from a range of different perspectives. Many im­portant in­sights have started to emerge, but a seemingly endless list of questions con­cerning the inter­face between socio­linguistics and ‘AI’ never­theless remains to be explored:

If ‘AI’ is indeed a keyword of our times, then what does sociolinguistics have to say about it? How can sociolinguistics as a discipline help us understand the ‘new’ technologies that are being introduced at breakneck speed? And what about the implications of the tech­nologies for fundamental human concerns such as identity, social relations and, indeed, humanity? Is ‘AI’ changing the way we use lan­guage, think about language or think about hu­mans as a languaging spe­cies? Is it changing language itself? Do we need new ways of con­ceptualizing the rela­tionship between lan­guage, technology and the environment? Do we need new methods and theories to bring sociolinguistics into the era of ‘AI’ – or will estab­lished approaches suffice?

Against this background, we are pleased to in­vite submissions for the conference Socio­lin­guistics and AI, hosted by the AI-UNI group at the University of Copenhagen, 19–21 August 2026. The conference is an in-person event. We welcome contributions from all research traditions associated with the field of socio­linguistics, including but not limited to (and in no particular order): sociocultural linguistics, interactional socio­lin­guistics, ethnometh­od­ology and conversa­tion analysis, linguistic ethnography, linguis­tic anthropology, (critical) discourse studies, language policy and plan­ning, social semi­otics, variationist socio­linguistics, educa­tional linguistics, and eco­linguistics.

Contributions should address ‘AI’ in some re­spect while clearly relating it to themes and issues commonly addressed within socio­linguistics, including but not limited to: multi­lingualism, social interaction, language and power, agency, identity, language and edu­ca­tion, (language) ideologies, minoritised lan­guages, heritage languages, linguistic di­ver­sity, language policy and planning, lan­guage variation and change, (de)standardi­sation, (de)co­loniality, language policy and plan­ning, the An­thropocene, mediatisation and socio­linguistic change.

We particularly encourage submissions that report on empirical work, but we also wel­come papers that are methodological or theo­retical in nature.

To be announced.

Abstract submission opens in January 2026.

Abstract submission

The deadline for abstract submission is 30 January 2026. Abstracts must be submitted in English. Notifications of the outcome of sub­missions will be sent out within a month of the submission deadline.

Paper abstracts

Abstracts for papers must not exceed 1,800 characters with spaces, including references (if any). Titles are counted separately and must not exceed 150 characters with spaces. Presentations will be organised in 30-minutes slots (20-minute presentation; 5-minute Q&A and 5 minutes for change of pre­senters/ rooms).

Poster abstracts

Abstracts for posters must not exceed 1,800 characters with spaces, including references (if any). Titles are counted separately and must not exceed 150 characters with spaces. Conference delegates at all career stages are encouraged to submit poster abstracts. Post­ers will be displayed for the duration of the conference and delegates will be invited to in­teract with the posters throughout. A dedi­cated session for discussing posters will be part of the conference programme. Pre­senters are responsible for printing their own posters (Size: A0).

Number of contributions

Contributors may submit a maximum of two abstracts (for papers/posters) and only be the first author and presenter of one of them. In addition to being an author/presenter of papers or posters, delegates may act as panel conveners and/or discussants.

Panel abstracts

Panel proposals must be submitted as pack­ages consisting of an overall panel abstract plus abstracts for each individual paper in the panel. Each abstract in the package, includ­ing the overall panel abstract, must not ex­ceed 1,800 characters with spaces, including refer­ences (if any). Titles for each abstract are counted separately and must not exceed 150 characters with spaces. Panel con­veners chair their own sessions and are en­couraged to schedule the contributions in a way that fol­lows the rhythm of regular paper sessions (allowing 5 minutes for changing rooms before the end of each 30-minute in­terval).

Regular panels will be allocated 90 minutes and must have at least three individual con­tri­butions. Individual contributions must not ex­ceed 20 minutes each. Within the allocated timeframe, panel conveners may consider making a short introduction and inviting a dis­cussant. A discussant slot may (but need not) count as one of the three required indi­vidual contribu­tions.

Double panels will be allocated 180 minutes and must have at least six individual contribu­tions. Individual contributions must not ex­ceed 20 minutes each. Within the allocated timeframe, panel conveners may consider making a short introduction and in­viting a dis­cussant. A discussant slot may (but need not) count as one of the six re­quired individual con­tributions.

The conference takes place at the University of Copenhagen. It will not be possible to participate remotely.

Information about registration and conference fee will be available here in 2026. Registration will open on 1 March 2026.

Questions for the organising committee can be sent to ai-uni@hum.ku.dk.

Scientific committee members review abstract proposals and offer advice to the organising committee on matters related to the academic profile of the conference.

The conference is organised by the AI-UNI re­search group, based at the Centre for In­ternationalisation and Parallel Language Use (CIP), at the University of Copenhagen: Sam Goodchild, Kasper Engholm Jelby, Jens Christian Borup Green Jensen, Sanne Lar­sen, Rafael Lomeu Gomes, Sofie E. A. Søndergaard and Janus Mor­tensen. 

Questions for the organising committee can be sent to ai-uni@hum.ku.dk.