Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Think Smartphones Are Âbiquitous Now? Just Wait a Few Years
Five years after the first iPhone went on sale, the sales of smartphones—loosely defined as phones that can run third-party "apps," and access the Internet directly—now...
From ACM Opinion
How To Make a Viral Hit in Four Easy Steps
Last Wednesday, BuzzFeed's Jack Shepherd published an irresistible piece called, "21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity." The post is exactly as...
From ACM Opinion
'a Perfect and Beautiful Machine': What Darwin's Theory of Evolution Reveals About Artificial Intelligence
Some of the greatest, most revolutionary advances in science have been given their initial expression in attractively modest terms, with no fanfare.
From ACM Opinion
A Weapon We Can't Control
The decision by the United States and Israel to develop and then deploy the Stuxnet computer worm against an Iranian nuclear facility late in George W. Bush's presidency...
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft Is the Most Exciting Company in Tech, Hands Down
I never thought I'd ever hear myself utter such words post-1995. But after the reveal of the Surface tablet—complete with an ultra-thin, pressure-sensitive keyboard...
From ACM Opinion
The First Five Years of the Iphone Obsession
The big question: Is the iPhone a "bicycle for the mind," as the late Steve Jobs said about the first Mac, or a crutch that does too much of our thinking for us...
From ACM Opinion
Free Speech For Computers?
Do machines speak? If so, do they have a constitutional right to free speech?
From ACM Opinion
How Garmin Failed to See the Iphone Threat
About nine years ago, I had a question for Min Kao, the CEO of the GPS concern Garmin. His answer was determined, and I thought of it as I watched the news from...
From ACM Opinion
Alan Turing: Is He Really the Father of Computing?
When Alan Turing arrived to start work at the National Physical Laboratory at Teddington, south-west London, he was 33 years old. It was October 1945 and he was...
From Communications of the ACM
The Challenges of Privacy By Design
Heralded by regulators, Privacy by Design holds the promise to solve the digital world's privacy problems. But there are immense challenges, including management...
From Communications of the ACM
Google's Hybrid Approach to Research
By closely connecting research and development Google is able to conduct experiments on an unprecedented scale, often resulting in new capabilities for the company...
From Communications of the ACM
Alan Turing's Other Universal Machine
All computer scientists know about the Universal Turing Machine, one of the foundation stones of theoretical computer science. Much less well known is the practical...
From Communications of the ACM
An Information Strategy For Environmental Sustainability
Many proposed solutions to the species-threatening transformations born of human industrialization have an engineering orientation. Often the suggested remedies...
From Communications of the ACM
Can Online Piracy Be Stopped By Laws?
Considering the legal responsibilities of Internet intermediaries in the aftermath of the Stop Online Privacy Act controversy.
From Communications of the ACM
Business Models For Strategy and Innovation
While often ambiguously defined, business models are central to innovation.
From ACM Opinion
Why Microsoft's Surface Tablet Shames the Pc Industry
On June 18, Microsoft beckoned 200 or so members of the media to a grimy, industrial part of Hollywood for what it described as a can’t-miss affair.
From ACM News
The Highly Productive Habits of Alan Turing
June 23 marks the 100th birthday of Alan Turing. If I had to name five people whose personal efforts led to the defeat of Nazi Germany, the English mathematician...
From ACM Opinion
How Flame Virus Has Changed Everything For Online Security Firms
Here's a question: if you connect an unprotected Windows computer to the Internet, how long will it take before it is infected by malicious software?
From ACM Opinion