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Jobs Threatened By Machines: A Once 'stupid' Concern Gains Respect
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...

To Write Better Code, Read Virginia Woolf
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.

My 10 Favorite Books: Bill Gates
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...

Why Apple's Stand Against the F.b.i. Hurts Its Own Customers
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...

When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime
From ACM Opinion

When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime

Misconception: Computers will outstrip human capabilities within many of our lifetimes.

To Beat Go Champion, Google's Program Needed a Human Army
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...

Andy Grove's Warning to Silicon Valley
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...

Where Computers Defeat Humans, and Where They Can't
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...

A Plan in Case Robots Take the Jobs: Give Everyone a Paycheck
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...

Review: 'dark Territory' Illuminates Cybersecurity’s Shadows
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...

A Pause to Weigh Risks of Gene Editing
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...

The End of Work?
From ACM Opinion

The End of Work?

Welcome to the era of AI-human hybrid intelligence, where people and artificial intelligence systems work together seamlessly.

Eric Schmidt on How to Build a Better Web
From ACM Opinion

Eric Schmidt on How to Build a Better Web

Turning Point: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declares a war on Twitter.

Dark Clouds Over the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Dark Clouds Over the Internet

The Internet is routinely described as borderless, and that is often how it feels.

Stopping Whatsapp Won't Stop Terrorists
From ACM Opinion

Stopping Whatsapp Won't Stop Terrorists

Is the ability to send encrypted messages making it hard to stop terrorists?

From Army of One to Band of Tweeters
From ACM Opinion

From Army of One to Band of Tweeters

It was the end of a long combat patrol near a district called Adhamiyah, in northwest Baghdad, in the fall of 2008.

The Light-Beam Rider
From ACM Opinion

The Light-Beam Rider

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the General Theory of Relativity, the most beautiful theory in the history of science, and in its honor we should take...

Cassini Seeks Insights to Life in Plumes of Enceladus, Saturn’s Icy Moon
From ACM News

Cassini Seeks Insights to Life in Plumes of Enceladus, Saturn’s Icy Moon

Where there is water, is there life?

Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.
From ACM Opinion

Stop Googling. Let’s Talk.

College students tell me they know how to look someone in the eye and type on their phones at the same time, their split attention undetected.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love A.i.
From ACM Opinion

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love A.i.

The distinction between man and machine is under siege.
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