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The Creators of Siri Just Showed Off Their Next AI Assistant, Viv, and It's Incredible
From ACM Opinion

The Creators of Siri Just Showed Off Their Next AI Assistant, Viv, and It's Incredible

Dag Kittlaus and Adam Cheyer created the artificial intelligence behind Siri, Apple's iconic digital assistant, and one of the first modern apps to capably handle...

What Would Happen If G.p.s. Failed?
From ACM Opinion

What Would Happen If G.p.s. Failed?

The radio signal that is the lifeblood of the Global Positioning System originates from a constellation of twenty-four satellites, orbiting more than twelve thousand...

Is Predictive Policing the Law-Enforcement Tactic of the Future?
From ACM Opinion

Is Predictive Policing the Law-Enforcement Tactic of the Future?

As big data transforms industries ranging from retailing to health care, it’s also becoming a more important tool for police departments, which are turning to data...

Making the Web Just a Second Faster Would Be a Big Deal
From ACM Opinion

Making the Web Just a Second Faster Would Be a Big Deal

The web is too damn slow.

Can Starshot Work?
From ACM Opinion

Can Starshot Work?

A couple of weeks ago the world heard about the most seriously funded (and perhaps the most serious) effort yet for starting us on the pathway to interstellar travel...

The Secret Signals That Rule Transport Networks
From ACM Opinion

The Secret Signals That Rule Transport Networks

It is early morning on Brighton beach, and we are sitting on a slope of pebbles, looking out to sea.

Will Smell Ever Come to Smartphones?
From ACM Opinion

Will Smell Ever Come to Smartphones?

Two years ago, at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York, I witnessed David Edwards receive what he claimed was the world's first transatlantic ...

Do Patent Commons and Standards-Setting Organizations Help Navigate Patent Thickets?
From Communications of the ACM

Do Patent Commons and Standards-Setting Organizations Help Navigate Patent Thickets?

Examining the institutions underlying the patent system for information and communication technologies.

What Cyberwar Against Isis Should Look Like
From ACM Opinion

What Cyberwar Against Isis Should Look Like

Pentagon officials have publicly said, in recent weeks, that they're hitting ISIS not only with bullets and bombs but also with cyberoffensive operations.

Who's Responsible When a Self-Driving Car Crashes?
From ACM Opinion

Who's Responsible When a Self-Driving Car Crashes?

Valentine's Day was a bummer in Mountain View, Calif. For the first time, one of Google's self-driving cars, a modified Lexus SUV, caused a crash.

A Year with the Apple Watch: What Works, What Doesn't, and What Lies Ahead?
From ACM Opinion

A Year with the Apple Watch: What Works, What Doesn't, and What Lies Ahead?

About a year ago, Apple announced and released its first Apple Watch. The long-rumored product was Apple’s first all-new product category since the iPad and its...

A Court Is About to Make One of the Most Important Decisions in the History of the Internet
From ACM Opinion

A Court Is About to Make One of the Most Important Decisions in the History of the Internet

If you thought the battle over net neutrality ended when the Federal Communications Commission slapped a series of unprecedented rules on Internet providers last...

I'm the First Quadriplegic Person to Regain Thought-Control of My Arm
From ACM Opinion

I'm the First Quadriplegic Person to Regain Thought-Control of My Arm

I'm the first quadriplegic person in the world to use my own thoughts to control my own arm. It's a pretty neat experience.

The Internet Archive, Bricks and Mortar Version
From ACM Opinion

The Internet Archive, Bricks and Mortar Version

A heavily rusted cast iron ring sits on a bookshelf inside a neoclassical church a few blocks north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The ring is about an inch...

­nite to Build a Quantum Internet
From ACM Opinion

­nite to Build a Quantum Internet

Almost 25 years ago, physicists discovered a way of 'teleporting' a quantum system from one place to another without moving it.

Why Robots Need to Be Able to Say 'no'
From ACM Opinion

Why Robots Need to Be Able to Say 'no'

Should you always do what other people tell you to do?

When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime
From ACM Opinion

When Is the Singularity? Probably Not in Your Lifetime

Misconception: Computers will outstrip human capabilities within many of our lifetimes.

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...

Is Alphago Really Such a Big Deal?
From ACM Opinion

Is Alphago Really Such a Big Deal?

In 1997, IBM's Deep Blue system defeated the world chess champion, Garry Kasparov.

­se or Lose Our Navigation Skills
From ACM Opinion

­se or Lose Our Navigation Skills

In 1984, I was part of a team that was developing a receiver for a satellite-navigation system. After weeks of debugging, the blur of random digits settled on a...
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