Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2017
From ACM Opinion
The 'fix' For Net Neutrality That Consumers Don't Need
Netflix and Amazon have been nominated for hundreds of Emmys and Golden Globe awards in recent years, and that is a testament to both the quality of those companies and the transformation of television.
From ACM Opinion
Finding Solace in Defeat By Artificial Intelligence
Fan Hui, the European Go champion, needed some fresh air. "I don't understand myself anymore."
From ACM Opinion
Artificial Intelligence: Chess Match of the Century
Nearly 20 years ago, I was fortunate enough to play friendly blitz chess against former world champion Garry Kasparov.
From ACM Opinion
Facebook's Race to Link Your Brain to a Computer Might Be nwinnable
"What if you could type directly from your brain?" Regina Dugan said, as the same words appeared on the towering screen behind her, one digital character at a time, a cursor leading the way.
From ACM Opinion
Ai's Pr Problem
Had artificial intelligence been named something less spooky, we'd probably worry about it less.
From ACM Opinion
Five Hacks For Digital Democracy
The election of a politically inexperienced president in the United States, Britain's vote to leave the European Union and the initial rejection of a peace deal in a Colombian referendum to end an armed conflict all signal dissatisfaction…
From ACM Opinion
Defending Science: How the Art of Rhetoric Can help
Science seems to be under attack in America, so much so that scientists and their supporters are marching in the streets.
From ACM Opinion
With Neuralink, Elon Musk Promises Human-to-Human Telepathy. Don't Believe It.
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, by way of blogger and cartoonist Tim Urban, has revealed in a 36,400-word illustrated explainer the thinking behind his new company Neuralink and its mission to use brain implants to directly…
From ACM Opinion
You've Never Heard of Tech Legend Bob Taylor, But He Invented 'almost Everything'
From ACM Opinion
President Trump's New Order Gives China Tech Opportunity To 'hire American' Too
The same week that President Trump issued his hire American executive order, the president of one of China's top tech companies said his company wants to do the same thing.
From ACM Opinion
How to Build Your Own Moonshot Lab, According to Astro Teller
From balloon-based Internet to self-driving cars, Astro Teller and his team have produced some of the world's most ambitious technology products.
From ACM Opinion
Bill Gates Is Wrong: The Solution to AI Taking Jobs Is Training, Not Taxes
Let's take a breath: Robots and artificial intelligence systems are nowhere near displacing the human workforce.
From ACM Opinion
Introducing 'operator 4.0,' A tech-Augmented Human worker
The Fourth Industrial Revolution has arrived.
From ACM Opinion
How Steve Wozniak Got Over His Fear of Robots Turning People Into Pets
Steve Wozniak is one half of Silicon Valley's most prototypical founder's myth.
From ACM Opinion
Track How Technology Is Transforming Work
Advances in technology pose huge challenges for jobs. Productivity levels have never been higher in the United States, for example, but income for the bottom 50% of earners has stagnated since 1999 (see 'Job shifts').
From ACM Opinion
I Never Thought I'd Be Marching For Science
But the anti-science stance of the current administration — silencing scientists, removing data from federal websites, proposing drastic funding cuts — hits my core.
From ACM Opinion
Melding Mind and Machine: How Close Are We?
Just as ancient Greeks fantasized about soaring flight, today's imaginations dream of melding minds and machines as a remedy to the pesky problem of human mortality.
From ACM Opinion
How to Keep the Government from Breaking the Internet
Telecommunications policy has been in flux since President Trump designated Ajit Pai the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission in January.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Net Neutrality in Trump's America
Now that President Trump has signed legislation repealing landmark federal privacy protections for Internet users, many in Washington are trying to decipher what the move could mean for net neutrality.
From ACM Opinion
There's Nowhere to Hide on the Internet
Sometime before dawn on March 29th, not too many hours after Congress approved legislation that allows Internet-service providers to sell your browsing history to whoever wants to buy it, a coder named Dan Schultz released aInternet…
From ACM Opinion
With New Technology, Mathematicians Turn Numbers Into art
Once upon a time, mathematicians imagined their job was to discover new mathematics and then let others explain it.
From ACM Opinion
The Inventor of the Web Predicts 'a Massive Outcry' Over Online Privacy
More than two decades ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the thing you're using to read this story right now—the World Wide Web.
From ACM Opinion
In kraine, Russia Weaponizes Fake News to Fight a Real War
As the Russian shells and rockets rained down on them in the front-line town of Debaltseve in February 2015, Ukrainian troops began to receive curious, anonymous SMS messages on their cellphones.
From ACM Opinion
Trump Has Done Nothing to Fix America's Tech Talent Shortage
President Trump's long-promised changes to the United States' high-skilled worker visa program may have to wait another year. For tech leaders, this decision to at least postpone changes to the H-1B program may come as a relief…
From Communications of the ACM
Online Social Networks and Global Women's Empowerment
Mediating social change or reinforcing male hegemony?
From Communications of the ACM
The Chess Player Who Couldn't Pass the Salt
AI: Soft and hard, weak and strong, narrow and general. Dear KV,
From Communications of the ACM
Wanted: Toolsmiths
Seeking to use software, hardware, and algorithmic ingenuity to create unique domain-independent instruments.
From Communications of the ACM
What It Means to Be an Entrepreneur Today
In his keynote address before the fifth edition of the Tech Open Air conference in Berlin in 2016, Kickstarter's cofounder and CEO Yancey Strickler suggests the city's tech community faces "a very rare opportunity."