Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
For Google, Everything Is a Popularity Contest
When I saw that Google had introduced a "Classic Papers" section of Google Scholar, its search tool for academic journals, I couldn't help but stroke my chin professorially...
From ACM Opinion
Building Privacy Right Into Software code
When I was 15, my parents did not allow me to use AOL Instant Messenger. All of my friends used it, so I had to find a way around this rule.
From ACM Opinion
Before the Internet
Before the Internet, you would just sit in an armchair with a book open on your lap, staring into space or staring at a decorative broom on the wall—kind of shifting...
From ACM Opinion
Minitel, the Open Network Before the Internet
In 1991, most Americans had not yet heard of the internet.
From ACM Opinion
How to Call B.s. on Big Data: A Practical Guide
"Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you," the Oxford philosophy professor John Alexander Smith told...
From ACM Opinion
Google, Not the Government, Is Building the Future
One persistent criticism of Silicon Valley is that it no longer works on big, world-changing ideas.
From ACM Opinion
Google and Facebook's Idealistic Futures Are Built on Ads
In 2011 a young computer scientist named Jeff Hammerbacher said something profound while explaining why he'd decided to leave Facebook—and the promise of a small...
From ACM Opinion
What to Expect Now That Internet Providers Can Collect and Sell Your Web Browser History
After Congress handed President Trump legislation Tuesday that would wipe away landmark privacy protections for Internet users, we received a lot of reader questions...
From Communications of the ACM
Learning with Mobile Technologies
Considering the challenges, commitments, and quandaries.
From ACM Opinion
Will Algorithms Erode Our Decision-Making Skills?
Algorithms are embedded into our technological lives, helping accomplish a variety of tasks like making sure that email makes it to your aunt or that you're matched...
From ACM Opinion
What If the Internet Stopped Working For a Day?
Jeff Hancock likes to give his Stanford University students weekend assignments that let them experience concepts discussed in class for themselves.
From ACM Opinion
5 Big Predictions For Artificial Intelligence in 2017
Last year was huge for advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning. But 2017 may well deliver even more.
From ACM Opinion
Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2017
If you've seen in it in a movie, you might see it in reality in 2017.
From ACM Opinion
Building Jarvis
My personal challenge for 2016 was to build a simple AI to run my home—like Jarvis in Iron Man.
From ACM Opinion
The Internet Is Broken. Starting from Scratch, Here's How I'd Fix It.
My big idea is that we have to fix the Internet.
From ACM News
Google, Democracy and the Truth About Internet Search
Here's what you don’t want to do late on a Sunday night. You do not want to type seven letters into Google. That's all I did.
From ACM Opinion
Sue Over Fake News? Not So Fast
The latest controversy involving so-called fake news has left many wondering why websites that publish patently false statements on the Internet have not been prosecuted...
From ACM Opinion
Why Facebook Can't Fix Fake News
Imagine going on Facebook and finding no political posts—just your friends and their updates.
From ACM Opinion
Facebook Fake News Row: Mark Zuckerberg Is a Politician Now
I've long suspected that Mark Zuckerberg, who often refers to himself as the "leader" of Facebook, has dreams of high office.
From ACM Opinion