Communications of the ACM
Refine your search:
How the “Frontier” Became the Slogan of Uncontrolled AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been billed as the next frontier of humanity: the newly available expanse whose exploration …
From Computational Complexity
The Theorems Conference
All too often theoretical computer scientists get more obsessed by proofs than the theorems themselves. I suggest a theorems conference. Here's how it would work...
From Computational Complexity
Designer Chips
A computer architecture researcher talked to me about a role theoretical computer science can play for them: creating a new kind of computer processor. Microprocessors...
From Computational Complexity
Whiplashed
I recently watched the movie Whiplash, about a college jazz band director, Fletcher played by J.K. Simmons, who torments his musicians to force them to be their...
From Computational Complexity
PACM
I serve on the conference committee of the ACM publications board and we've had extensive discussions on the question of the role of journals in publication venues...
From Computational Complexity
Crowdsourcing the Truth
A new project Augur aims to create a decentralized prediction market. If this post so moves you, Augur is in the midst of a reputation sale. Don't miss out if you...
From Computational Complexity
What is Theoretical Computer Science?
Moshe Vardi asks a provocative question in Windows on Theory and CACM: "Why doesn't ACM have a SIG for Theoretical Computer Science?" The reaction of myself and...
From Computational Complexity
New Proof of the Isolation Lemma
The isolation lemma of Mulmuley, Vazirani and Vazirani says that if we take random weights for elements in a set system, with high probability there will be a unique...
From Computational Complexity
Microsoft Faculty Summit
Last week I participated in my first Microsoft Faculty Summit, an annual soiree where Microsoft brings about a hundred faculty to Redmond to see the latest in Microsoft...
From Computational Complexity
Will Our Understanding of Math Deteriorate Over Time?
Scientific American writes about rescuing the enormous theorem (classification of finite simple groups) before the proof vanishes. How can a proof vanish? In mathematics...
From Computational Complexity
Goodbye SIGACT and CRA
Tuesday I served my last day on two organizations, the ACM SIGACT Executive Committee and the CRA Board of Directors. I spent ten years on the SIGACT (Specialbig...
From Computational Complexity
Changing STOC
At the recently completed STOC and the previous FOCS, much of the discussion revolved around reforming the conferences. You read the discussion and comments onarXiv...
From Computational Complexity
FCRC Complexity
On Wednesday at FCRC, the Complexity, STOC and EC (Economics and Computation) conferences all have sessions, a smorgasbord of talks, but tough decisions on what...
From Computational Complexity
STOC Business Meeting
This week I'm at the Federated Computing Research Conference in Portland, a collection of many mostly ACM conferences. Last night was the STOC business meeting....
From Computational Complexity
A Metric Group Product
A guest post by Dylan McKay, recently graduated from Georgia Tech and soon to be PhD student at Stanford. Here a cute puzzle motivated by a pair of undergrads...
From Computational Complexity
Award Season
László Babai will receive the 2015 Knuth Prize and Daniel Spielman and Shang-Hua Teng will receive the 2015 Gödel Prize. ACM issued a press release for both...
From Computational Complexity
John Nash (1928-2015)
John Nash and his wife Alicia died in a taxi accident, returning from the airport after he received the Abel prize in Norway. The public knew John Nash as the "Beautiful...
From Computational Complexity
Theory Jobs 2015
In the fall we list theory jobs, in the spring we see who got them. Like last year, I created a fully editable Google Spreadsheet to crowd source who is going where...
From Computational Complexity
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Publication of the seminal paper on Computational Complexity
Juris Hartmanis and Richard Stearns in a photo dated May 1963. The main theorem from their paper is on the board later improved by Hennie and Stearns. Photo courtesy...
From Computational Complexity
The Virtuous Cycle
Last week we have a celebration of the new CS graduates at Georgia Tech where each graduating student says what their plans are for next year. Other than the few...
From Computational Complexity