Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2020
From ACM Opinion
The Coronavirus Crisis Proves The Internet Should Be A Public Utility
The spread of the novel coronavirus around the world has proven conclusively that the Internet should be a public utility.
From ACM Opinion
How to (Carefully) Use Tech to Contain the Coronavirus
The United States can learn from other countries to track the pandemic while still protecting privacy.
From ACM Opinion
The Role of Robotics in Managing Public Health and Infectious Diseases
As the COVID-19 epidemic escalates, robots have the potential to be deployed for disinfection, delivering medications and food, measuring vital signs, and assisting border controls.
From ACM Opinion
Ritu Raman on the WISDM Database at MIT
Postdoc Ritu Raman speaks about the WISDM platform she developed to highlight female speakers at MIT.
From ACM Opinion
AI is an Ideology, Not a Technology
At its core, "artificial intelligence" is a perilous belief that fails to recognize the agency of humans.
From ACM Careers
How We Got Our Start In The Tech Industry
Six black women discuss how they got started in tech, provide advice to other black women looking to start in the industry, and suggest what tech companies can do to make the industry more inclusive.
From ACM Opinion
Why Being A Programmer Will Make Me A Better Doctor
A few years of experience have shown me that some lessons I've learned from being a programmer generalize wonderfully into my life as a medical student.
From ACM News
Let Evolution Design Your Robot
A U.K. research project uses evolutionary principles to design robots to help dismantle decommissioned nuclear power plants.
From ACM Opinion
Collaborating With Users to Develop Accessible Designs
Co-authors Alan Lundgard, Crystal Lee, and Arvind Satyanarayan discuss "Sociotechnical Considerations for Accessible Visualization Design," published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics.
From ACM Opinion
Joe Steinmeyer on Guiding Students Into the World of STEM
Joe Steinmeyer, a principal lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, has taught more than 400 students in various Office of Engineering Outreach Programs since 2009.
From ACM Opinion
Interview with Claire Le Goues
Claire Le Goues, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University, describes the similarities of high school debate and computer science, why it's fun to take the LSAT, women in academia, and more.
From Communications of the ACM
Computing and Community in Formal Education
Culturally responsive computing repurposes computer science education by making it meaningful to not only students, but also to their families and communities.
From Communications of the ACM
Dilemmas of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence has confronted us with a raft of dilemmas that challenge us to decide what values are important in our designs.
From Communications of the ACM
Four Internets
Considering the merits of several models and approaches to Internet governance.
From Communications of the ACM
Unsafe At Any Level
The U.S. NHTSA's levels of automation are a liability for automated vehicles.
From Communications of the ACM
Conferences in an Era of Expensive Carbon
Balancing sustainability and science.
From Communications of the ACM
Through the Lens of a Passionate Theoretician
Considering the far-reaching and fundamental implications of computing beyond digital computers.