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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...

Should Hackers Help the F.b.i.?
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...

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...

Apple Policy on Bugs May Explain Why Hackers Would Help F.b.i.
From ACM Opinion

Apple Policy on Bugs May Explain Why Hackers Would Help F.b.i.

After a third party went to the F.B.I. with claims of being able to unlock an iPhone, many in the security industry said they were not surprised that the thirdApple...

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...

To Keep America Safe, Embrace Drone Warfare
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.

Congress Starts to Get Serious About Online Privacy
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...

Tech's 'frightful 5' Will Dominate Digital Life For Foreseeable Future
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?

Political Gifs Are the New Sound Bites This Campaign Season
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.

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?

The Cyberthreat ­nder the Street
From ACM Opinion

The Cyberthreat ­nder the Street

Within the last year there have been 16 so-called fiber cuts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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?
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