Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Nate Silver Blew It When He Missed Trump. Now He Really Needs to Get It Right.
Nate Silver is on the downtown 1 train. Possibly because he looks like a (modestly) hip math teacher, and hardly looks up from his phone, he goes unrecognized until...
From ACM Opinion
America Isn't Ready For a Cyberattack
The recent cyberattack that rendered more than 1,200 websites unreachable was a warning. Experts say a similar, or larger, attack could be launched tomorrow, and...
From ACM Opinion
E-Voting Refuses to Die Even Though It's Neither Secure Nor Secret
In theory, using the internet or e-mail to vote for the U.S. president sounds like a good idea.
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
The Decline in Chinese Cyberattacks: The Story Behind the Numbers
Last summer, an audience of government officials, military personnel, and foreign ambassadors gathered in Aspen, Colorado, to hear John Carlin, then an assistant...
From ACM Opinion
Vulnerability Is the Internet's Original Sin
On the day (perhaps not long from now) when the entire internet crashes, no one will be able to say that we didn’t see it coming.
From ACM Opinion
A.i. Inspiration: The Science Fiction That Frames Discussion
Science fiction comes up often in serious discussions about artificial intelligence and weapons.
From ACM Opinion
If They Google You, Do You Win?
Are voters misleading pollsters? Are there hidden Donald Trump supporters who could throw the election his way?
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
Dwarf Planets Aren't Big News, Because Astronomy Is Doing a Great Job
Last week, astronomers announced the discovery of DeeDee, a possible dwarf planet. That name—dwarf planet—means it is like Pluto: Massive enough to assume a spherical...
From ACM Opinion
I Just Want Nate Silver to Tell Me It's All Going to Be Fine
Evan has a habit. He's not ashamed of it, but he doesn't want to reveal too much about himself, lest his colleagues learn how he’s spending so much of his time.
From ACM Opinion
George Orwell Never Dreamed of Advertising as Invasive as Yahoo's Proposal
Yahoo wants to take advertising to the next level—that is, the Orwellian level—bombarding people in public places with targeted advertising served up by the surveillance...
From ACM Opinion
How to Turn Your Self-Driving Car Into a Time Machine
The self-driving car's greatest promise is that it will buy its passengers that most precious and finite of resources: time.
From ACM Opinion
There Is a Blind Spot in AI Research
This week, the White House published its report on the future of artificial intelligence (AI)—a product of four workshops held between May and July 2016 in Seattle...
From ACM Opinion
Russian Hacking Crisis Tests Obama's Nerve
President Barack Obama came under immediate pressure Friday night to punish Russia for hacking into US political institutions—with calls to rally European allies...
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
Google Is Listening
You know the cliché that if you're not paying for the product, you are the product?
From ACM Opinion
Would It Be Ethical to Implant False Memories in Therapy?
Take a moment to remember an event that you experienced as a child.
From ACM Opinion