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The Real Risks of Artificial Intelligence
From Communications of the ACM

The Real Risks of Artificial Intelligence

Incidents from the early days of AI research are instructive in the current AI environment.

Facebook's Ad Scandal Isn't a 'fail,' It's a Feature
From ACM Opinion

Facebook's Ad Scandal Isn't a 'fail,' It's a Feature

What does it take to advertise on Facebook to people who openly call themselves "Jew haters" and want to know "how to burn Jews"? About $10 and 15 minutes, according...

I Helped Create Facebook's Ad Machine. Here's How I'd Fix It
From ACM Opinion

I Helped Create Facebook's Ad Machine. Here's How I'd Fix It

This month, two magnificently embarrassing public-relations disasters rocked the Facebook money machine like nothing else in its history.

How Facebook Changed the Spy Game
From ACM Opinion

How Facebook Changed the Spy Game

Any doubt that Russia has been running a strategically targeted disinformation campaign in the United States was erased on Wednesday, when Facebook revealed that...

How the Voyager Golden Record Was Made
From ACM Opinion

How the Voyager Golden Record Was Made

We inhabit a small planet orbiting a medium-sized star about two-thirds of the way out from the center of the Milky Way galaxy—around where Track 2 on an LP record...

Digitocracy
From Communications of the ACM

Digitocracy

Considering law and governance in the digital age.

The Enduring Legacy of Zork
From ACM Opinion

The Enduring Legacy of Zork

In 1977, four recent MIT graduates who'd met at MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science used the lab's PDP-10 mainframe to develop a computer game that captivated...

Why Video Games Are Obsessed With the Apocalypse
From ACM Opinion

Why Video Games Are Obsessed With the Apocalypse

Video games are, in a way, the perfect medium through which to depict the post-apocalypse. If we assume that after the collapse of civilisation everyone will revert...

Tracking the Spread of Culture Through Folktales
From ACM Opinion

Tracking the Spread of Culture Through Folktales

There's a reason why the premise of American Gods is so alluring: the US is home to a wild and glorious mishmash of gods, folktales, and cultural heritage.

Better Business Through Sci-Fi
From ACM Opinion

Better Business Through Sci-Fi

About five years ago, Ari Popper enrolled in a course on science-fiction writing at the University of California, Los Angeles, hoping to distract himself from the...

Spreading Fake News Becomes Standard Practice For Governments Across the World
From ACM Opinion

Spreading Fake News Becomes Standard Practice For Governments Across the World

Campaigns to manipulate public opinion through false or misleading social media postings have become standard political practice across much of the world, with...

Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom
From ACM Opinion

Students Are Better Off Without a Laptop in the Classroom

As recent high school graduates prepare for their migration to college in the fall, one item is sure to top most students' shopping wish lists: a laptop computer...

Unknowns of the Gig-Economy
From Communications of the ACM

Unknowns of the Gig-Economy

Seeking multidisciplinary research into the rapidly evolving gig-economy.

The Beginner's Creed
From Communications of the ACM

The Beginner's Creed

We all need to learn to be expert beginners.

The Informal Guide to ACM Fellow Nominations
From Communications of the ACM

The Informal Guide to ACM Fellow Nominations

Recommendations for a successful nomination process.

Before the Internet
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...

To Make Your Conspiracy Theory Legit, Just Find an 'expert'
From ACM Opinion

To Make Your Conspiracy Theory Legit, Just Find an 'expert'

"MIT Professor Exposes 'Egregious Error' & Evidence Tampering in US Report on Syria Sarin Incident." Pretty good headline, right?

Google, Not the Government, Is Building the Future
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.

Toward a Ban on Lethal Autonomous Weapons
From Communications of the ACM

Toward a Ban on Lethal Autonomous Weapons: Surmounting the Obstacles

A 10-point plan toward fashioning a proposal to ban some — if not all — lethal autonomous weapons.

The Anonymization Debate Should Be About Risk, Not Perfection
From Communications of the ACM

The Anonymization Debate Should Be About Risk, Not Perfection

Focusing on the process of anonymity rather than pursuing the unattainable goal of guaranteed safety.
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