A Challenge to Build Neuro-Symbolic Video Agents

Modern video understanding systems excel at tasks such as scene classification, object detection, and short video retrieval. However, as video analysis becomes increasingly central to real-world applications, there is a growing need for proactive video agents for the systems that not only interpret video streams but also reason about events and take informed actions. A key obstacle in this direction is temporal reasoning: while deep learning models have made remarkable progress in recognizing patterns within individual frames or short clips, they struggle to understand the sequencing and dependencies of events over time, which is critical for action-driven decision-making. Addressing this limitation demands moving beyond conventional deep learning approaches. We posit that tackling this challenge requires a neuro-symbolic perspective, where video queries are decomposed into atomic events, structured into coherent sequences, and validated against temporal constraints. Such an approach can enhance interpretability, enable structured reasoning, and provide stronger guarantees on system behavior, all key properties for advancing trustworthy video agents. To this end, we present a grand challenge to the research community: developing the next generation of intelligent video agents that integrate three core capabilities: (1) autonomous video search and analysis, (2) seamless real-world interaction, and (3) advanced content generation. By addressing these pillars, we can transition from passive perception to intelligent video agents that reason, predict, and act, pushing the boundaries of video understanding.

@article{shah2025_2505.13851,
  title={ A Challenge to Build Neuro-Symbolic Video Agents },
  author={ Sahil Shah and Harsh Goel and Sai Shankar Narasimhan and Minkyu Choi and S P Sharan and Oguzhan Akcin and Sandeep Chinchali },
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.13851},
  year={ 2025 }
}