Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
The Many Meanings of Open
I was recently asked to talk about the idea of "open," and I realized the term is used in at least eight different ways.
From ACM Opinion
Humans 1, Robots 0
Computers seem to be replacing humans across many industries, and we're all getting very nervous.
From ACM Opinion
Rage Against the Algorithms
When was the last time you read an online review about a local business or service on a platform like Yelp?
From ACM Opinion
The Lessons of Aaron Swartz
On the day after Aaron Swartz's death in January, President Reif and I spoke about how MIT might respond to the breaking news of his suicide.
From ACM Opinion
Texan Creationism Showdown May 'contaminate' Textbook
If creationists in Texas get their way, high-school students throughout the U.S. could soon be reading biology textbooks that falsely cast doubt on the scientific...
From ACM Opinion
Frax App Brings Fractal-Exploration Glory to iOS
In 1983, intrigued by an article on fractals, I wrote a program to display the Mandelbrot set on my family's TRS-80 Color Computer.
From ACM Opinion
Why Free Software Is More Important Now Than Ever Before
It is now 30 years since I launched the campaign for freedom in computing, that is, for software to be free or "libre" (we use that word to emphasize that we're...
From ACM Opinion
Forget Foreign Languages and Music. Teach Our Kids to Code
J. Paul Gibson began to teach programming classes for teens out of frustration.
From ACM Opinion
At 15, Google's Ambitions Remain nbridled
Google turned 15 on Friday, smack in the middle of its adolescence.
From ACM Opinion
Large Patent Holders Hate This Reform Proposal. That’s a Good Sign.
The fight over patent reform has turned into a two-front war.
From ACM Opinion
The Fatal Mistake That Doomed Blackberry
Beleaguered gadgetmaker BlackBerry said on Monday that it's signed a tentative agreement to be purchased by a group led by Canadian holding company Fairfax Financial...
From ACM Opinion
Why We're Shutting Off Our Comments
Comments can be bad for science. That's why, here at PopularScience.com, we're shutting them off.
From ACM Opinion
Lost to the Ages
You are standing on a dock beside the jutting masts and crow's nest of a sunken ship, water lapping calmly under your feet.
From ACM Opinion
Does Digital Age Overcomplicate Design?
There is a scene in the television series "Boss" in which the mayor of Chicago, played by Kelsey Grammer, is discovered by his wife washing bed sheets by hand at...
From ACM News
Apple: The 64-Bit Question
There's been an interesting sideshow in tech land since Apple unveiled the iPhone 5S last week: Does having the first 64-bitmicroprocessor in a phone mean anything...
From ACM Opinion
Civics For a Digital Age
Over half of the world’s population lives in urban environments, and that number is rapidly growing according to the World Health Organization.
From ACM Opinion
The New National Identity Is What Smartphone You Prefer, and Nobody's Quite Sure Why
In a fascinating note at Asymco, mobile analyst and ex-Nokian Horace Dediu details how people's taste in smartphones varies from place to place:
From ACM Opinion
Behold! Jonathan Ive's Apple
Apple is today releasing the much-anticipated iOS 7, and with it, the biggest overhaul of its mobile operating system since it debuted in 2007 with the original...
From ACM Opinion
Ios 7, Thoroughly Reviewed
When we reviewed iOS 6 a year ago, we called it a "spit-and-polish" release and stand by that assessment today.
From ACM Opinion