ProActLLM: Proactive Conversational Information Seeking with Large Language Models

ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM), pp. 6894–6897

Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) have transformed information access by enabling human-like text understanding and generation. This workshop explores the next step for conversational AI: building proactive information-seeking assistants that go beyond reactive question answering. We aim to investigate how LLMs can anticipate user needs, model complex context, support mixed-initiative interactions, integrate retrieval and external tools, personalize responses, adapt through feedback, and ensure fairness, transparency, and cognitive grounding. Bringing together experts from NLP, IR, HCI, and cognitive science, the workshop will serve as a timely forum for advancing intelligent, proactive dialogue systems. It will also foster interdisciplinary collaboration.

Authors 9

1. Shubham Chatterjee

   Missouri University of Science and Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA

2. Xi Wang

   University of Sheffield

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Sheffield, London, United Kingdom

3. Shuo Zhang
   Affiliation as printed

   Bloomberg, London, United Kingdom

4. Sajad Ebrahimi

   University of Guelph

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada

5. Zhaochun Ren Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

6. Debasis Ganguly

   University of Glasgow

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom

7. Gareth J. F. Jones

   Dublin City University

   Affiliation as printed

   Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland

8. Emine Yılmaz

   University College London

   Affiliation as printed

   University College London, London, United Kingdom

9. Hamed Zamani

   University of Massachusetts Amherst

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Massachusetts, Amherst, WA, USA