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Do We Need Asimov's Laws?
From ACM News

Do We Need Asimov's Laws?

In 1942, the science fiction author Isaac Asimov published a short story called Runaround in which he introduced three laws that governed the behaviour of robots...

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains
From ACM Opinion

The Not-So-Distant Future When We Can All ­pgrade Our Brains

In a decade, cognitive enhancement may have gone mainstream.

Cassini Revisited
From ACM Opinion

Cassini Revisited

When its handlers finally steer it into a collision course with Saturn in 2017, the spacecraft Cassini will have been in space for two decades, 13 of those years...

Want to Learn Quicker? ­se Your Body
From ACM Opinion

Want to Learn Quicker? ­se Your Body

Ever got to grips with a problem? Picked up a new skill? Grasped a difficult concept? The language of learning is full of references to parts of the body outside...

'transcendence Looks at the Implications of Artificial Intelligence, but Are We Taking AI Seriously Enough?'
From ACM Opinion

'transcendence Looks at the Implications of Artificial Intelligence, but Are We Taking AI Seriously Enough?'

With the Hollywood blockbuster Transcendence playing in cinemas, with Johnny Depp and Morgan Freeman showcasing clashing visions for the future of humanity, it's...

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039
From ACM News

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039

Brain chips mean we are struggling to distinguish our own thoughts from ideas implanted by advertisers.

One ­niverse, One Life: A Conjecture
From ACM Opinion

One ­niverse, One Life: A Conjecture

Opening Disclaimer 1: Although there may be more than one universe, as per the hypothetical multiverse, we will humbly submit to our own bubble of information,...

Warp Drive Research Key to Interstellar Travel
From ACM Opinion

Warp Drive Research Key to Interstellar Travel

As any avid Star Trek fan can tell you, the eccentric physicist Zefram Cochrane invented the warp-drive engine in the year 2063.

Habitable Exoplanets Are Bad News For Humanity
From ACM Opinion

Habitable Exoplanets Are Bad News For Humanity

Last week, scientists announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, a planet 492 light years away in the Cygnus constellation.

Tom Kilburn
From Communications of the ACM

Tom Kilburn: A Tale of Five Computers

Reflections on a British computer engineer who influenced several important machines, including the first stored-program computer.

I Didn't Type This Article
From ACM Opinion

I Didn't Type This Article

I'm dictating it to my iPhone as I walk down the busy city street on the way to my office in the West Village.

The Cloud Industry Needs Aereo to Win. But Consumers Need Something Better.
From ACM Opinion

The Cloud Industry Needs Aereo to Win. But Consumers Need Something Better.

The best way to think about Aereo, the company at the center of this week's Supreme Court battle over the future of computing, is as an example of legal performance...

The Limits of Social Engineering
From ACM Opinion

The Limits of Social Engineering

In 1969, Playboy published a long, freewheeling interview with Marshall McLuhan in which the media theorist and sixties icon sketched a portrait of the future that...

How America's Leading Science Fiction Authors Are Shaping Your Future
From ACM Opinion

How America's Leading Science Fiction Authors Are Shaping Your Future

Stories set in the future are often judged, as time passes, on whether they come true or not.

Driverless Cars Can't Come Soon Enough
From ACM Opinion

Driverless Cars Can't Come Soon Enough

We all know the tragedy of car accidents.

Is There Anything Beyond Quantum Computing?
From ACM News

Is There Anything Beyond Quantum Computing?

A quantum computer is a device that could exploit the weirdness of the quantum world to solve certain specific problems much faster than we know how to solve them...

Smallest Subversive: Mathematical Fight For Our World
From ACM Opinion

Smallest Subversive: Mathematical Fight For Our World

Did you know that every time you use your cellphone, you strike a blow for republicanism against both monarchy and a fixed Divine Order?

What Makes an Alien Intelligent?
From ACM News

What Makes an Alien Intelligent?

On Thursday, astronomers announced that they'd reached a new milestone in the search for Earth's "twin," or a planet much like ours that orbits in what's known...

If the Robots Kill ­s, It's Because It's Their Job
From ACM Opinion

If the Robots Kill ­s, It's Because It's Their Job

In the movie Transcendence, which opens in theaters on Friday, a sentient computer program embarks on a relentless quest for power, nearly destroying humanity in...

Google Wants to Make 'science Fiction' a Reality—and That's Limiting Their Imagination
From ACM Opinion

Google Wants to Make 'science Fiction' a Reality—and That's Limiting Their Imagination

Self-driving cars, extreme life extension, and global wifi provided by weather balloons: Google makes projects that sound like science fiction into reality at its...
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