Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2023
From ACM News
Google's New Tool Turns Bard into a Code Wizard
Bard can now explain code snippets and generate code. It is capable of explaining why a block has the result that it does.
From ACM News
A Google AI Model Developed an Unexpected Skill
Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company's experts call this aspect of AI a "black box."
From ACM TechNews
Tech Industry Pioneer Sees Way for U.S. to Lead in Advanced Chips
Ivan Sutherland, who helped pioneer CMOS semiconductors decades ago, believes the U.S. can regain the global lead in advanced chipmaking.
From ACM TechNews
Advanced AI Faces New Regulatory Push in Europe
In an open letter, a group of EU lawmakers said regulators should be given authority to govern the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
From ACM TechNews
(Almost) Everyone Likes a Helpful Trash Robot
A study by Cornell University researchers found that the public responded well to two remote-controlled trash barrel robots installed at a Manhattan plaza, one for landfill waste and one for recycling.
From ACM News
EU's Landmark MiCA Legislation to Drive Crypto Prices
Under the new legislation, the EU will have a unified approach to crypto asset regulation across all 27 member states, meaning firms approved in one country can "passport" their operations into others.
From ACM News
What's AGI, and Why Are AI Experts Skeptical?
ChatGPT and other bots have revived conversations on artificial general intelligence. Scientists say algorithms won't surpass you any time soon.
From ACM News
This New Technology Could Blow Away GPT-4 and Everything Like It
The Hyena code is able to handle amounts of data that make GPT-style technology run out of memory and fail.
From ACM News
Learning to Code is Not Enough
Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.
From ACM News
Patients Were Told Their Voices Could Disappear. They Turned to AI to Save them.
Artificial intelligence can re-create voices that may have otherwise been lost to disease.
From ACM News
OpenAI's Hunger for Data is Coming Back to Bite It
The company's artificial intelligence services may be breaking data protection laws, and there is no resolution in sight.
From ACM News
Companies Turn to AI to Avoid 'Cloud Sprawl'
Cloud-computing usage at large companies is measured in millions of records a day, making it 'humanly impossible' to keep track of costs.
From ACM News
Britain Sounds Alarm on Spyware, Mercenary Hacking Market
Britain's National Cybersecurity Centre also warned about hackers-for-hire, mercenary spies whose activities it said "raise the likelihood of unpredictable targeting or unintentional escalation."
From ACM News
How Generative Models Could Go Wrong
A big problem is that they are black boxes.
From ACM News
Turning AI to Crime
How cybercriminals use ChatGPT in creating malware and cyberattacks.
From ACM News
Microsoft's Refusal to Pay for Twitter's API Outraged Musk
Twitter will no longer be available on Microsoft Advertising as the service relies on API access.
From ACM News
AI-Generated Song Featuring Drake, The Weeknd Removed From Streaming
There are still a lot of copyright issues to hash out in the age of artificial intelligence.
From ACM News
Eco-Computing: Demonstrating the Computational Power of Ecosystems
The researchers developed two types of ecological reservoir computing as a proof-of-concept that ecological networks have computational power.
From ACM TechNews
Oklahoma Businesses Recruit Tech Workers from Ukraine
A nonprofit based in Tulsa, OK, is recruiting Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion for jobs in the region's expanding technology sector.
From ACM TechNews
Autonomous Bus Sounds: All About When, Not How
Cornell University's Malte Jung, and Hannah Pelikan from Sweden's Linköping University, are using sound to improve autonomous buses' navigation and communication capabilities.
From ACM TechNews
David Papworth Honored with ACM Breakthrough in Computing Award
David B. Papworth has been named to receive the ACM Charles P. "Chuck" Thacker Breakthrough in Computing Award for his work on microprocessors at Intel.
From ACM News
San Jose Plans Robocar Network Instead of Airport Shuttle
The city's exploration of personal rapid transit is a rejection of both traditional trains and the vision of autonomous vehicles traveling on conventional roads.
From ACM News
The Internet Archive's Troubles are Bad News for Book Lovers
Increasingly, the future of the Internet Archive looks under threat.
From ACM News
AI Is Coming for Your Fortune Cookies
OpenFortune, which deals exclusively in the tiny tickers of printed messages lurking in the clamshell cookies, is now using ChatGPT to produce them.
From ACM TechNews
Robotic Worms Could One Day Dig Beneath Your Feet
Scientists are creating earthworm-inspired soft robots, envisioning their flexibility as an advantage for penetrating hard-to-reach areas.
From ACM TechNews
U.K. Police Double Down on 'Improved' Facial Recognition
The U.K.'s Metropolitan Police Service and South Wales Police remain commited to using Live Facial Recognition after research revealed "substantial improvement" in their systems' accuracy.
From ACM TechNews
The Real-World Costs of the Digital Race for Bitcoin
An investigation by The New York Times uncovered 34 large-scale bitcoin mining operations in the U.S., which are straining the power grid, inflating electricity bills, and producing massive carbon emissions.
From ACM News
Lighting the Way at Nanometer Scales
Light waves bouncing around could replace a significant portion of digital computation.
From ACM News
The A.I. Dilemma
This presentation is from a private gathering in San Francisco on March 9th with leading technologists and decision-makers with the ability to influence the future of large-language model A.I.s.
From ACM TechNews
Multifunctional Patch Detects Plant Diseases, Other Crop Threats
An electronic patch developed by North Carolina State University (NC State) scientists can monitor crops for various pathogens and threats.