Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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...
From Communications of the ACM
Unknowns of the Gig-Economy
Seeking multidisciplinary research into the rapidly evolving gig-economy.
From Communications of the ACM
The Informal Guide to ACM Fellow Nominations
Recommendations for a successful nomination process.
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
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?
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 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.
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.
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 ACM Opinion
Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs With Smartphones?
Amid an opioid epidemic, the rise of deadly synthetic drugs and the widening legalization of marijuana, a curious bright spot has emerged in the youth drug culture...
From ACM Opinion
The Wisdom of Nokia's Dumbphone
They weighed heavy in pockets and jackets and bags, for they were thick and bulky, not lithe and narrow.
From ACM Opinion
Listen, Technology Holdouts: Enough Is Enough
Even as fanatic customers can be counted on to line up outside the Apple store for the latest iPhone, there are still millions of Americans who don't use a smartphone...
From ACM Opinion
Hollywood Has No Idea What to Do with Vr
Would you watch a virtual-reality Casablanca?
From ACM Opinion