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Why the Most Controversial U.S. Internet Law Is Worth Saving
From ACM Opinion

Why the Most Controversial U.S. Internet Law Is Worth Saving

Donald Trump and Joe Biden both want to throw out Section 230. Here's why America should fix it instead. By Paul M. Barrett, deputy director of the NYU Stern Center...

The Field of Natural Language Processing is Chasing the Wrong Goal
From ACM Opinion

The Field of Natural Language Processing is Chasing the Wrong Goal

Researchers are too focused on whether AI systems can ace tests of dubious value. They should be testing whether systems grasp how the world works.

Here’s One Way to Make Daily Covid-19 Testing Feasible on a Mass Scale
From ACM Opinion

Here’s One Way to Make Daily Covid-19 Testing Feasible on a Mass Scale

Pooling tests with the help of machine learning can allow us to safely reopen without a vaccine.

How to Know if Artificial Intelligence is About to Destroy Civilization
From ACM Opinion

How to Know if Artificial Intelligence is About to Destroy Civilization

These canaries in the coal mines of AI would be signs that superintelligent robot overlords are approaching.

The AI Community Needs fo Take Responsibility for Its Technology and Its Actions
From ACM Opinion

The AI Community Needs fo Take Responsibility for Its Technology and Its Actions

Celeste Kidd, a cognitive psychologist, challenged the audience to think critically about the future they want to build.

AI Researchers Need to Stop Hiding the Climate Toll of Their Work
From ACM Opinion

AI Researchers Need to Stop Hiding the Climate Toll of Their Work

Researchers are sounding the alarm about the surprisingly large carbon footprint of the computations required for deep learning.

Here Are 10 Ways AI Could Help Fight Climate Change
From ACM Opinion

Here Are 10 Ways AI Could Help Fight Climate Change

An international team of 22 big name AI researchers have laid out a road map suggesting how machine learning can help save the planet and humanity from imminent...

How the Data Mining of Failure Could Teach ­s the Secrets of Success
From ACM Opinion

How the Data Mining of Failure Could Teach ­s the Secrets of Success

Thomas Edison is often described as America's greatest inventor. His successes include electric power generation, sound recording, and the electric lightbulb.

No, Scientists Didn't Just 'Reverse Time' with a Quantum Computer
From ACM Opinion

No, Scientists Didn't Just 'Reverse Time' with a Quantum Computer


A Second 737 Max Crash Raises Questions about Airplane Automation
From ACM Opinion

A Second 737 Max Crash Raises Questions about Airplane Automation

As you read this, over a million people are in flight. Close to a third of the commercial airplanes in the sky at any given moment are Boeing 737s: it is the best...

This Is Why AI Has Yet to Reshape Most Businesses
From ACM Opinion

This Is Why AI Has Yet to Reshape Most Businesses

The art of making perfumes and colognes hasn't changed much since the 1880s, when synthetic ingredients began to be used.

Five Emerging Cyber-Threats to Worry About in 2019
From ACM Opinion

Five Emerging Cyber-Threats to Worry About in 2019

Last year was full of cybersecurity disasters, from the revelation of security flaws in billions of microchips to massive data breaches and attacks using malicious...

When Chinese Hackers Declared War on the Rest of ­s
From ACM Opinion

When Chinese Hackers Declared War on the Rest of ­s

Late one Wednesday in March 2015, an alarm sounded in the offices of GitHub, a San Francisco-based software firm. The company's offices exemplified the kind of...

Never Mind Killer Robots; Here Are Six Real AI Dangers to Watch Out for in 2019
From ACM Opinion

Never Mind Killer Robots; Here Are Six Real AI Dangers to Watch Out for in 2019

Once it was fashionable to fret about the prospect of super-intelligent machines taking over the world. The past year showed that AI may cause all sorts of hazards...

How China Got a Head Start in Fintech, and Why the West Won't Catch ­p
From ACM Opinion

How China Got a Head Start in Fintech, and Why the West Won't Catch ­p

In 2013 I moved from Paris to Beijing to study China's financial system. I stayed for two years and became fluent enough to translate economics books from Mandarin...

Fake America Great Again
From ACM Opinion

Fake America Great Again

Guess what? I just got hold of some embarrassing video footage of Texas senator Ted Cruz singing and gyrating to Tina Turner. His political enemies will have great...

The Four Ways that Ex-Internet Idealists Explain Where It All Went Wrong
From ACM Opinion

The Four Ways that Ex-Internet Idealists Explain Where It All Went Wrong

A long time ago, in the bad old days of the 2000s, debates about the Internet were dominated by two great tribes: the Optimists and the Pessimists.

Future Elections May Be Swayed by Intelligent, Weaponized Chatbots
From ACM Opinion

Future Elections May Be Swayed by Intelligent, Weaponized Chatbots

The battle against propaganda bots is an arm's race for our democracy. It's one we may be about to lose.

Who Needs Democracy When You Have Data?
From ACM Opinion

Who Needs Democracy When You Have Data?

In 1955, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov published a short story about an experiment in "electronic democracy," in which a single citizen, selected to represent...

AI for Cybersecurity Is a Hot New Thing, and a Dangerous Gamble
From ACM Opinion

AI for Cybersecurity Is a Hot New Thing, and a Dangerous Gamble

When I walked around the exhibition floor at this week's massive Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, I was struck by the number of companies boasting...
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