Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
You Pay to Read Research You Fund. That's Ludicrous
In 2011, developer and researcher Alexandra Elbakyan launched Sci-Hub, an online archive that shares research articles freely and openly without paywalls or restrictions...
From ACM Opinion
Synthetic Biology Is … Complex. But This Exhibit Makes It a Blast
It takes at least a master's degree to fully understand synthetic biology, but grasping its importance requires far less.
From ACM Opinion
The Senate's Draft Encryption Bill Is 'ludicrous, Dangerous, Technically Illiterate'
As Apple Battled the FBI for the last two months over the agency's demands that Apple help crack its own encryption, both the tech community and law enforcement...
From ACM Opinion
Feds Set a Risky Precedent By Indicting 7 Iranian Hackers
This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a potentially dangerous precedent when it indicted seven Iranian hackers involved in attacks on the US financial...
From ACM Opinion
Apple's Carekit Is the Best Argument Yet For Strong Encryption
On the eve of his company’s court date with the FBI, where it will defend its right to not weaken the security of its own devices, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage...
From ACM Opinion
Self-Driving Cars Won't Work ntil We Change Our Roads—and Attitudes
Autonomous vehicles will join human drivers on our roads sooner than most people think.
From ACM News
How the Feds Could Get Into Iphones Without Apple's Help
It's a showdown that has the country mesmerized.
From ACM Opinion
Forcing Apple to Hack That Iphone Sets a Dangerous Precedent
Are Apple and other tech companies somehow against America's national security if they create uncrackable encryption software that government investigators or even...
From ACM News
Apple's Fbi Battle Is Complicated. Here's What's Really Going On
The news this week that a magistrate ordered Apple to help the FBI hack an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooter suspects has polarized the nation—and...
From ACM Opinion
Obama's Cybersecurity Plan Is Meant to Secure His Legacy
The end of White House terms are often about trying to shape historic legacies, and President Obama is out to build his in the new area of cybersecurity.
From ACM Opinion
AI Is Transforming Google Search. The Rest of the Web Is Next
Yesterday, the 46-year-old Google veteran who oversees its search engine, Amit Singhal, announced his retirement. And in short order, Google revealed that Singhal's...
From ACM Opinion
Proposed State Bans on Phone Encryption Make Zero Sense
American politics has long accepted the strange notion that just a pair of states—namely Iowa and New Hampshire—get an outsize vote in choosing America’s next president...
From ACM Opinion
To Make AI More Human, Teach It to Chitchat
Tom was discussing the film star Tang Wei with a chatbot named XiaoIce, and the bot was excited: "A goddess! She stole my heart … and then went off and married!"...
From ACM Opinion
Forget Ai—the Human-Friendly Future of Computing Is Already Here
For many of us, the concept of artificial intelligence conjures up visions of a machine-dominated world, where humans are servants to the devices they created.
From ACM Opinion
Security's Biggest Winners and Losers in 2015
This year, lawmakers surprised us by taking initial steps—albeit, baby ones—to rein in some of the NSA's mass spying and provide better oversight of the intelligence...
From ACM Opinion
Elon Musk's Billion-Dollar AI Plan Is About Far More Than Saving the World
Elon Musk and Sam Altman worry that artificial intelligence will take over the world. So, the two entrepreneurs are creating a billion-dollar not-for-profit company...
From ACM Opinion
Crispr Is Getting Better. Now It's Time to Ask the Hard Ethical Questions
When Chinese scientists announced in April they had edited human embryos using a new genetic tool called Crispr, the headlines blared "designer babies," and the...
From ACM Opinion
How to Baffle Web Trackers By Obfuscating Your Movements Online
Online ad networks and search engines love it when you surf around.
From ACM Opinion