Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
Apple's Siri Is as Revolutionary as the Mac
The initial reaction to the iPhone 4S was cooler than Apple might have hoped. Expectations had been hyped to such a point that people were looking for a leap...
From ACM Opinion
Dennis Ritchie: The Shoulders Steve Jobs Stood On
The tributes to Dennis Ritchie won’t match the river of praise that spilled out over the web after the death of Steve Jobs. But they should.
From ACM Opinion
The Singularity Isn't Near
Futurists like Vernor Vinge and Ray Kurzweil have argued that the world is rapidly approaching a tipping point, where the accelerating pace of smarter and smarter...
From ACM Opinion
Do Volunteer Programmers Produce Better Code?
Volunteer programmers do better if they are in it for the long haul, says blogger Robert Pogson. "It's human nature to do better work when you are doing something...
From ACM Opinion
Cold-Calling Dennis Ritchie
When I was a grad student at the University of Wisconsin in 1978, I called Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs to tell him about the work I was doing with the Unix line...
From ACM Opinion
Rise of the Robot Journalists
The New York Times reported recently that artificial intelligence is being used to compose news stories. Advocates argue that the articles created by "robot journalists"...
From ACM Opinion
Why iOS 5 Is a Big Deal
While most of this week's attention is going to be on Apple's new iPhone 4S and how it sells, the most important thing to come out of the company is a new version...
From ACM Opinion
Cloud-Powered Facial Recognition Is Terrifying
"I never forget a face," goes the Marx Brothers one-liner, "but in your case, I'll be glad to make an exception." Unlike Groucho Marx, unfortunately, the cloud...
From ACM Opinion
What I Learned from Steve Jobs
Many people have explained what one can learn from Steve Jobs. But few, if any, of these people have been inside the tent and experienced first hand what it was...
From ACM Opinion
Steve Jobs: 1955
Steve Jobs is dead. One big question is whether the unbelievably innovative culture he forged will live. Jobs was not a great human being, but he was a great,...
From ACM Opinion
Apple's Cook to Woo Shoppers Without Pizzazz of Iphone 5
Apple Inc. this holiday season will have to prove it’s what’s on the inside that matters most.
From ACM Opinion
IT Inferno: The Nine Circles of IT Hell
Spend enough time in the tech industry, and you'll eventually find yourself in IT hell—one not unlike the underworld described by Dante in his "Divine Comedy."...
From ACM Opinion
se It Better: The Worst Trends in Tech
Consumer technology doesn't always get better, faster and cheaper. Here are four bad moves that prove the future isn't always bright.
From ACM Opinion
Will Robots Steal Your Job?
If you're taking a break from work to read this article, I've got one question for you: Are you crazy? I know you think no one will notice, and I know that everyone...
From ACM Opinion
Gov. Brown: Sign Bill Outlawing Warrantless Smartphone Searches
There’s a bill sitting on the desk of California Governor Jerry Brown, which if signed would ban police from searching the mobile devices of people arrested for...
From Communications of the ACM
Rebooting the CS Publication Process
A proposal for a new cost-free open-access publication model for computer science papers.
From Communications of the ACM
Testing: Failing to Succeed
There are two situations in software testing that scare testers: when they see "too many" defects and when they do not see "enough."
From Communications of the ACM
File-System Litter
Cleaning up your storage space quickly and efficiently.
From ACM News
Microsoft
Reading my RSS and Twitter feeds Tuesday night, I turned to a tech writer friend and said, "the Wintel Era just ended, and half of these people are fighting over...
From ACM Opinion