Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Plagiarism, Defamation, and the Power of Hyperlinks
What do Fareed Zakaria, Jonah Lehrer, and Gawker Media have in common? In different ways, the incidents that have thrust all three into the news recently help to...
From ACM Opinion
Five Things I've Learned from 20 Years of Email
It's been 20 years since I got my first-ever email address. Back then, I read email with a 2,400 bps modem. Today, emails reach me instantaneously on my phone whereever...
From ACM Opinion
There's Only One Truly Open Platform: The Web
As Twitter and Facebook continue to fight a variety of skirmishes in the ongoing "platform wars," with both companies trying to control as much of their networks...
From ACM Opinion
How Will Apple Restore Icloud Trust?
After being on the receiving end of a truly awful hacking attack, Wired writer Mat Honan explained how it happened in detail. And he was very clear about two of...
From ACM Opinion
Here's Why Tablets (yes, Tablets!) Will Replace the Smartphone
I'm sure to get the "you're off your rocker" commentary on this one, but I make a living by looking ahead in the world of mobile technology. And what I see now...
From ACM Opinion
Why We Need a Standard for the Internet of Things
The Internet of things is supposed to connect every aspect of our lives from our homes and cars to the objects we wear and the goods we consume. It's even connecting...
From ACM Opinion
Why the Days Are Numbered For Hadoop As We Know It
Hadoop is everywhere. For better or worse, it has become synonymous with big data. In just a few years it has gone from a fringe technology to the de facto standard...
From ACM Opinion
We Already se Wi-Fi More Than Cellular; Why Not Continue the Trend?
We think of our mobile phones as connecting to mobile networks, but that’s really not the case. When it comes to mobile data, our smartphones are far more reliant...
From ACM Opinion
How and Why You Should Do Data Journalism
One of the big areas of focus for technology companies over the past year has been "big data"—in other words, the idea that there can be a lot of value in finding...
From ACM Opinion
The Personalized Web Is Just an Interest Graph Away
You know how our social graphs are creeping into every aspect of our Web lives, from search results to coupons? Well, get ready for something a lot more personal...
From ACM Opinion
The Rise of the New Information Gatekeepers
The promise of the Internet age is one of unparalleled access to information of all kinds, but it has also seen the rise of some powerful gatekeepers that control...
From ACM Opinion
Misconceptions in Ai: Or Why Watson Can't Talk to Siri
On Tuesday night, I was schooled by Watson on playing Jeopardy in an exhibition match at the Computer History Museum. I discovered that despite our fear of the...
From ACM Opinion
A Google Monopoly Isn't the Point
Even if the Justice Dept. were to establish that Google is a monopoly, it would be hard for anyone to prove that the company's free services have injured consumers...
From ACM Opinion
Apple Multitouch Patent Is All About x Lock-In
Apple notched a significant win last week when it was awarded a key patent related to basic multitouch functionality. The patent was first called "hugely problematic"...12