Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
October 2021
From ACM Opinion
Computer Science Education Is a Global Challenge
Analysis in the Brookings report shows a correlation between a country's economic position and implementation of computer science in schools.
From ACM Opinion
Avoiding AI's Bad Reputation
AI-based advertising models 'give tech a bad name,' says Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost
From ACM Opinion
What's Missing from the Push to Diversify Tech?
Focusing on hiring pipelines or career pathways alone won't solve tech's diversity and inclusion problems.
From ACM Opinion
Where Computing Might Go Next
The future of computing depends in part on how we reckon with its past
From ACM Opinion
Wall Street Doesn't Care about the Facebook Leaks, but Mark Zuckerberg Does
Facebook's numbers are doing fine for now, but not its reputation
From ACM Opinion
How to Expand and Improve CS Education Around the World
Six recommendations to take CS education to scale at primary and secondary school levels
From ACM Opinion
How AI Is Reinventing What Computers Are
Three key ways artificial intelligence is changing what it means to compute
From ACM Opinion
Programming Hate into AI Will Be Controversial, but Possibly Necessary
For a created consciousness to make value judgments, both liking and disliking functions must be part of the system.
From ACM Opinion
Infrastructure as Code
Helping software developers use code to access more control over cloud infrastructure assets
From ACM Opinion
Moving Towards Reproducible Machine Learning
Reporting machine learning-based research can help to improve transparency and reproducibility
From ACM Opinion
In Favor of More Science Communication by AI Researchers
Those developing AI should do more to fix the misunderstanding, hype, and misinformation that surrounds it
From ACM Opinion
The Uselessness of Useful Knowledge
Today's powerful but little-understood AI breakthroughs echo past examples of unexpected scientific progress
From ACM Opinion
Transparency Can Help Fix Social Media—if Anyone Can Define It
Transparency promises users more insight into and power over social media services, but also signals how much we must figure out
From ACM Opinion
SEC Isn't Hurting Crypto Innovation, Says Industry Leader
Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin says SEC Chair Gensler may need greater authority over crypto industry
From ACM Opinion
'Small Data' Is Also Crucial for Machine Learning
The most promising AI approach you've never heard of doesn't need to go big
From ACM Opinion
The Facebook Whistleblower Won't Change Anything
Whistleblowing keeps the limelight on one person instead of the movements already doing the work.
From ACM Opinion
Facebook Whistleblower Sophie Zhang Has a Message for the Tech Press, Too
Zhang came forward with allegations against Facebook long before Frances Haugen, so why has it taken so long for people to listen?
From ACM Opinion
Facebook Uses Deceptive Math to Hide Its Hate Speech Problem
The company claims its AI is amazing at removing harmful content, but internal documents suggest the algorithm is ineffective
From ACM Opinion
Pentagon Wants AI to Predict Events Before They Occur
AI-enabled platforms are expected to offer strategic warning of adversarial actions prior to any irreversible moves having been made
From ACM Opinion
Meta Learning and Model-Based Reinforcement Learning
Stanford professor Chelsea Finn talks about robotics and meta learning research
From ACM Opinion
How Congress' Parade of Tech Hearings Totally Lost the Plot
Political theater has replaced anything resembling achievement
From ACM Opinion
Why Robots Should Fear Death as Much as We Do
To gain full artificial general intelligence, perhaps machines need to fear their own mortality
From ACM Opinion
The FDA Should Better Regulate Medical Algorithms
Most do not require the agency's approval, and those that do often don't require clinical trial
From ACM Opinion
Which Crypto Platform Will Rule Them All?
Can Ethereum remain the crypto platform of choice for developers?
From ACM Opinion
Instagram Isn't the Only Social Media That's Hurting Girls
Researchers and reporters have been documenting social media's harmful effects on kids prior to whistleblower Frances Haugen's testimony
From ACM Opinion
Americans Need a Bill of Rights for an AI-Powered World
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is developing principles to guard against powerful technologies—with input from the public
From ACM Opinion
Supersized AIs: Are Truly Intelligent Machines Just a Matter of Scale?
Gigantic neural networks that write with remarkable fluency have led to suggestions that scaling up will usher in ultimately true machine intelligence
From ACM Opinion
The DOJ Wants Companies to Admit Their Cybersecurity Problems
Agency plans to use Civil War-era "Lincoln Law" to enforce cybersecurity disclosure
From ACM Opinion
The Challenges of Regulating Cryptocurrency
The S.E.C. has yet to set clear rules on cryptocurrencies, leaving the industry guessing. Maybe that's how the agency wants it.
From ACM Opinion
Will the Cloud Eat Your AI?
Big cloud providers have a lot going for them when it comes to AI, but are they the only game in town?