Research map / Image generation
Autoregressive and latent generation: research map
1,747 accepted papers on Autoregressive and latent generation in Image generation, from ICML, NeurIPS, ICLR, CVPR and AAAI (2016–2026), grouped into 6 clusters and 21 approaches. The busiest year so far is 2026.
Within Image generation, its share held steady from 22.7% in 2023–24 to 22.0% in 2025–26 (474 → 901 papers at ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR and AAAI, the venues with data for all four years).
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Approaches and key papers
latent space · modeling · vae · 557 papers
Approaches in this cluster:
- Generative latent space tooling (129 papers)
Reuse and analyze latent spaces and tokenizers of image generators. - High-resolution diffusion synthesis (140 papers)
Scale diffusion models to high resolutions with position extrapolation and efficient architectures. - Latent diffusion with learned tokenizers (114 papers)
Apply diffusion and masked modeling in learned latent spaces for images and language. - Hierarchical VQ-VAE generation (62 papers)
Generate images with hierarchical quantized or multi-scale latent representations. - Next-scale and token autoregressive images (90 papers)
Generate images autoregressively over scales or continuous tokens with improved tokenizers. - Accelerating autoregressive image generation (22 papers)
Speed autoregressive and masked image generators with speculative decoding and hierarchical modeling.
Most cited and most cited since 2024:
- High-Resolution Image Synthesis With Latent Diffusion Models (CVPR 2022 · 15,775 citations)
- Taming Transformers for High-Resolution Image Synthesis (CVPR 2021 · 2,386 citations)
- Efficient Deformable ConvNets: Rethinking Dynamic and Sparse Operator for Vision Applications (CVPR 2024 · 257 citations)
- Visual Autoregressive Modeling: Scalable Image Generation via Next-Scale Prediction (NeurIPS 2024 · 111 citations)
captioning · assessment · synthetic · 460 papers
Approaches in this cluster:
- Classical generative image synthesis (147 papers)
Synthesize and inpaint images with CNN, GAN, and example-based generators. - Retrieval and matching with generative features (140 papers)
Apply generative or diffusion features to re-ranking, matching, and metric learning. - Synthetic training data from generators (111 papers)
Use generated images for classification training and evaluate generative models. - Learning-based image quality assessment (62 papers)
Predict perceptual image quality without reference using learned or synthetic supervision.
Most cited and most cited since 2024:
- Generative Image Inpainting With Contextual Attention (CVPR 2018 · 2,538 citations)
- BERTScore: Evaluating Text Generation with BERT (ICLR 2020 · 2,397 citations)
- U-KAN Makes Strong Backbone for Medical Image Segmentation and Generation (AAAI 2025 · 308 citations)
- MedSegDiff-V2: Diffusion-Based Medical Image Segmentation with Transformer (AAAI 2024 · 263 citations)
ai · watermarking · generated · 243 papers
Approaches in this cluster:
- Generalizable fake image detection (119 papers)
Detect AI-generated images with large-scale datasets, multi-generator training, and semantic-pixel features. - Robust diffusion watermarking (79 papers)
Embed and attack watermarks in diffusion-generated images for provenance. - Reconstruction-based diffusion image detection (45 papers)
Detect diffusion-generated images using reconstruction error and diffusion-based anomaly modeling.
Most cited and most cited since 2024:
- CNN-Generated Images Are Surprisingly Easy to Spot... for Now (CVPR 2020 · 1,121 citations)
- Towards Universal Fake Image Detectors That Generalize Across Generative Models (CVPR 2023 · 381 citations)
- Forgery-aware Adaptive Transformer for Generalizable Synthetic Image Detection (CVPR 2024 · 112 citations)
- EditGuard: Versatile Image Watermarking for Tamper Localization and Copyright Protection (CVPR 2024 · 91 citations)
motion · layout · object · 202 papers
Approaches in this cluster:
- Compositional scene generation (105 papers)
Generate images from scene graphs and compositional structure. - Diffusion planning and policies (58 papers)
Use diffusion models for robot planning, behavior synthesis, and visuomotor control. - Layout generation (39 papers)
Generate graphic and design layouts with transformers and diffusion models.
Most cited and most cited since 2024:
- Image Generation From Scene Graphs (CVPR 2018 · 854 citations)
- Executing Your Commands via Motion Diffusion in Latent Space (CVPR 2023 · 341 citations)
- DisCo: Disentangled Control for Realistic Human Dance Generation (CVPR 2024 · 79 citations)
- SingularTrajectory: Universal Trajectory Predictor Using Diffusion Model (CVPR 2024 · 67 citations)
speech · music · audio · 166 papers
Approaches in this cluster:
- Neural text-to-speech synthesis (72 papers)
Synthesize speech from text with codec, diffusion, and vector-quantized generative models. - Diffusion audio synthesis (52 papers)
Generate waveforms and general audio with diffusion and latent diffusion models. - Controllable music generation (42 papers)
Generate symbolic and audio music with hierarchical, autoregressive, and diffusion models.
Most cited and most cited since 2024:
- FastSpeech: Fast, Robust and Controllable Text to Speech (NeurIPS 2019 · 579 citations)
- SampleRNN: An Unconditional End-to-End Neural Audio Generation Model (ICLR 2017 · 423 citations)
- DiffSHEG: A Diffusion-Based Approach for Real-Time Speech-driven Holistic 3D Expression and Gesture Generation (CVPR 2024 · 49 citations)
- NaturalSpeech 2: Latent Diffusion Models are Natural and Zero-Shot Speech and Singing Synthesizers (ICLR 2024 · 37 citations)
protein · molecular · molecule · 119 papers
Approaches in this cluster:
- Equivariant diffusion for 3D molecules (71 papers)
Generate 3D molecular structures with equivariant diffusion in geometric or latent space. - Diffusion for protein and antibody design (48 papers)
Generate protein structures, sequences, and antibodies using latent and language-model diffusion.
Most cited and most cited since 2024:
- Antigen-Specific Antibody Design and Optimization with Diffusion-Based Generative Models for Protein Structures (NeurIPS 2022 · 119 citations)
- Equivariant Diffusion for Molecule Generation in 3D (ICML 2022 · 118 citations)
- Deep Confident Steps to New Pockets: Strategies for Docking Generalization (ICLR 2024 · 28 citations)
- Scalable Diffusion for Materials Generation (ICLR 2024 · 25 citations)
Related topics in Image generation
- GANs (515)
- Super-resolution (429)
- Editing and style transfer (988)
- Fast diffusion sampling (1,866)
- Image restoration (1,184)
- Text-to-image diffusion (1,310)