Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Please Prove You're Not a Robot
When science fiction writers first imagined robot invasions, the idea was that bots would become smart and powerful enough to take over the world by force, whether...
From ACM Opinion
A Guide to Challenges Facing Self-Driving Car Technologists
In the minds of many in Silicon Valley and in the auto industry, it is inevitable that cars will eventually drive themselves.
From ACM Opinion
Privacy in the Cellphone Age
Odds are you need to use that phone in your pocket many times a day—and doing so leaves you no choice but to constantly relay data revealing your location and movements...
From ACM Opinion
What Happens When Your Car Gets Hacked?
As devastating as the latest widespread ransomware attacks have been, it's a problem with a solution.
From ACM Opinion
Google, Not the Government, Is Building the Future
One persistent criticism of Silicon Valley is that it no longer works on big, world-changing ideas.
From ACM Opinion
How Privacy Became a Commodity For the Rich and Powerful
Recently I handed over the keys to my email account to a service that promised to turn my spam-bloated inbox into a sparkling model of efficiency in just a few...
From ACM Opinion
How the Republicans Sold Your Privacy to Internet Providers
On Tuesday afternoon, while most people were focused on the latest news from the House Intelligence Committee, the House quietly voted to undo rules that keep internet...
From ACM Opinion
Silicon Valley Reels After Trump's Election
Silicon Valley's luminaries woke up Wednesday morning to a darkened new global order, one that the ceaseless optimism of their tech-powered visions seemed suddenly...
From ACM Opinion
Who Oversees Data Brokers Selling Your Personal Info? No One
You probably already know that you have precious little privacy, and that shadowy data brokers have built the buying and selling of people’s personal information...
From ACM Opinion
Whoever Wins the White House, This Year's Big Loser Is Email
Every four years, pundits race to anoint this or that newfangled tech trend as the next disruptive force to forever alter the mechanics of American democracy.
From ACM Opinion
Surveillance in the Post-Obama Era
During his 2008 campaign, President Obama vowed to assert greater oversight of the massive surveillance apparatus built in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, arguing...
From ACM Opinion
Can We Trust Julian Assange and Wikileaks?
The release of a cache of emails from the Democratic National Committee by WikiLeaks last month has raised a great many questions—about the role of the D.N.C. in...
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
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
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
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...
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