Workshop on

Risks and Unintended Harms of Generative AI Systems

📍 Bari, Italy

🤝 Held as part of the 5th Italian Conference on Big Data and Data Science (ITADATA2026)

đź“… 10-12 November 2026

About the workshop

As Generative AI systems such as large language models and synthetic media generators become deeply integrated into big data ecosystems—spanning journalism, governance, healthcare, cybersecurity, and other critical sectors—, they introduce complex challenges and critical questions around trust, governance, and harm mitigation.

This half-day workshop addresses the intersection of generative AI and big data from both technical and ethical perspectives. This workshop aims to bring together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss unintended consequences of generative AI, explore real-world failure scenarios, and collaboratively identify solutions.

The workshop includes a keynote and/or an interactive panel with audience Q&A, and lightning talks selected through an open call.

We invite lightning talk submissions that bring forward original insights, early-stage ideas, case studies, and provocations. The workshop will foster interactive discussion and interdisciplinary exchange, with the goal of shaping a research and policy agenda for responsible generative AI integration in data science and big data environments.

Themes and topics

We will examine the ways in which generative technologies may disrupt core components of the data lifecycle—from collection to reporting—and investigate emerging approaches to mitigate their potential harms.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
  • Failures, biases, and unintended consequences in generative AI models.
  • Data assurance and trust in generative content.
  • Transparency, red-teaming, and risk mitigation techniques.
  • Impact on data protection, provenance, and auditability.
  • Policy and regulatory responses to synthetic media and AI-generated content.
  • Detection and prevention of malicious uses of generative AI (e.g., deepfakes, fraud, misinformation).
  • Governance models for safe and ethical deployment of generative systems.
  • Trustworthiness and interpretability in AI-enhanced big data applications.
Bari, Italy

Where

ITADATA2026

Co-located

10-12 November 2026

When

Submissions

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Important dates
  • Paper submission due: TBD
  • Notification: TBD
  • Camera-ready: TBD

What to submit

We welcome the following types of submissions:
  • Regular papers (at least 5 pages, up to 12 pages, excluding references): novel original presenting complete and mature work that has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
  • Short papers (at least 5 pages, up to 8 pages, excluding references): novel, original research presenting preliminary results or ongoing work that has not been published or submitted elsewhere.
  • Non-archival papers: relevant work recently accepted or currently submitted at other venues, including abstracts, discussion papers, critical reviews of recently published work, position papers, and presentations of ongoing or incomplete research.

How to submit

  • Formatting and submission: TBD
  • Publication: Accepted papers will be published in an open-access volume of the CEUR Proceedings. The proceedings will include only original contributions (regular papers, short papers, and extended abstracts of at least 5 pages). Non-archival submissions can present relevant work recently accepted or currently submitted at other venues. At least one author of each accepted paper must register for the workshop and present the paper.

Rules for Paper Selection

All submitted papers will undergo a peer-review process. Each submission will be evaluated by at least two independent reviewers, selected from the Program Committee or invited experts. Reviews will assess relevance to the workshop topics, scientific quality, originality, clarity of presentation, and potential impact. Based on the reviewers' evaluations and discussion among the Program Committee, the workshop chairs will make the final acceptance decisions. Only accepted papers presented at the workshop will be included in the CEUR-WS proceedings. We are committed to ensuring a fair, transparent, and high-quality selection process.

Program

CHECK OUR PROGRAM

Tentative program

Time Activity
09:00–09:10 🌟 Welcome and Introduction
09:10-09:50 🎤 Keynote Talk: TBD
09:50–11:00 ⚡ Paper Session
11:00–11:30 🍽️ Coffe Break
11:30–12:30 👥 Panel
12:30 ✨ Closing Remarks

Organization

ORGANIZERS

Stefano Cirillo

University of Salerno, Italy

Angelo Impedovo

AI & ML specialist @ Nesea, Bari, Italy

Vincenzo Pasquadibisceglie

University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy

Eliana Pastor

Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Francesco Pierri

Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Serena Tardelli

IIT-CNR, Italy

PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Lorenzo Alvisi, IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy
Gianluca Bonifazi, UniversitĂ  Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
Gaetano Cimino, UniversitĂ  degli studi di Salerno, Italy
Francesco Corso, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Nicolò Fontana, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Weiwei Jiang, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
Valerio La Gatta, Northwestern University
Luca Luceri, University of Southern California
Lorenzo Mannocci, University of Pisa, Italy
Benedetta Tessa, University of Pisa, Italy
Luca Virgili, UniversitĂ  Politecnica delle Marche, Italy