Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Jobs Threatened By Machines: A Once 'stupid' Concern Gains Respect
They replaced horses, didn't they? That's how the late, great economist Wassily Leontief responded 35 years ago to those who argued technology would never really...
From ACM Opinion
To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf
The humanities are kaput. Sorry, liberal arts cap-and-gowners. You blew it. In a software-run world, what's wanted are more engineers.
From ACM Opinion
My 10 Favorite Books: Bill Gates
"Seveneves," Neal Stephenson: This novel about how the human race responds to the end of life on Earth rekindled my love for sci-fi. Some readers will lose patience...
From ACM Opinion
An Ipad Misplaced at the Airport Takes Its Own Vacation
Last month, Shelby Bonnie's iPad vanished from his carry-on bag somewhere at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after a red-eye flight from San Francisco...
From ACM Opinion
Europe's Web Privacy Rules: Bad For Google, Bad For Everyone
It's been a rough few months for Google in Europe.
From ACM Opinion
Have Comment Sections on News Media Websites Failed?
Many newspapers and online media companies have begun disabling comment sections because of widespread abuse and obscenity.
From ACM Opinion
Why Apple's Stand Against the F.b.i. Hurts Its Own Customers
Two weeks ago, privacy advocates across the country celebrated as the Federal Bureau of Investigation backed off its request for Apple to help gain access intoiPhone...
From ACM Opinion
When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime
Misconception: Computers will outstrip human capabilities within many of our lifetimes.
From ACM Opinion
To Beat Go Champion, Google's Program Needed a Human Army
Nearly 20 years ago, after a chess-playing computer called Deep Blue beat the world grandmaster Garry Kasparov, I wrote an article about why humans would long remain...
From ACM Opinion
Should Hackers Help the F.b.i.?
The United States Justice Department announced this week that it was able to unlock the iPhone used by the gunman in the San Bernardino shooting in December, and...
From ACM Opinion
Andy Grove's Warning to Silicon Valley
The praise this week for Andy Grove, who died on Monday at age 79, has been wrapped up in praise for Silicon Valley, where he was a towering figure in the semiconductor...
From ACM Opinion
Where Computers Defeat Humans, and Where They Can't
ALPHAGO, the artificial intelligence system built by the Google subsidiary DeepMind, has just defeated the human champion, Lee Se-dol, four games to one in the...
From ACM Opinion
A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs: Give Everyone a Paycheck
Let's say computers come for most of our jobs. This may not seem likely at the moment; computer scientists and economists offer wildly varying ideas for how deeply...
From ACM Opinion
Review: 'dark Territory' Illuminates Cybersecurity’s Shadows
Fred Kaplan has written a consistently eye-opening history of our government’s efforts to effectively manage our national security in the face of the largely open...
From ACM Opinion
To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare
"Are you sure they're there?" the decision maker asks. "They" are Qaeda operatives who have been planning attacks against the United States.
From ACM Opinion
Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy
Congress could soon vote on a bill that would require law enforcement agencies to get a search warrant from a judge to obtain emails, photographs and other documents...
From ACM Opinion
Tech's 'frightful 5' Will Dominate Digital Life For Foreseeable Future
There's a little parlor game that people in Silicon Valley like to play. Let's call it, Who's Losing?
From ACM Opinion
Political Gifs Are the New Sound Bites This Campaign Season
Every few decades, a piece of technology comes along that alters political campaigning.
From ACM Opinion
A Pause to Weigh Risks of Gene Editing
The technology for altering defects in the human genome has progressed so rapidly in the last three years that it has outstripped the ability of scientists and...
From ACM Opinion