Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
An Ode to Insignificance: Buttons, Touchscreens, and Other Dangerous Technologies
"The future is already here—it's just not evenly distributed," is an often-quoted line from the brilliant science-fiction writer William Gibson.
From ACM Opinion
In Search of Blockchain's Killer-Apps
Blockchain has been in the news lately, but beyond knowing that it has something to do with payments and digital currencies, most people don't know what blockchain...
From ACM Opinion
They Survived a School Shooting Only to Wage Battle in Some of the Nastiest Corners of the Internet
In person, Sarah Chadwick and Jaclyn Corin are fierce. And young.
From ACM Opinion
How Lies Spread Online
The spread of misinformation on social media is an alarming phenomenon that scientists have yet to fully understand.
From ACM Opinion
Don't Blame China, Mr. President. Blame the Robots.
Mr. President, if you're looking for someone to demonize for killing blue-collar jobs in your favorite industries, don't blame China and "bad trade deals." Blame...
From ACM Opinion
The Sublime and Scary Future of Cameras With A.I. Brains
Something strange, scary and sublime is happening to cameras, and it's going to complicate everything you knew about pictures. Cameras are getting brains.
From ACM Opinion
Bioengineers Today Emphasize the Crucial Ingredient Dr. Frankenstein Forgot: Responsibility
Mary Shelley was 20 when she published "Frankenstein" in 1818. Two hundred years on, the book remains thrilling, challenging and relevant—especially for scientists...
From ACM Opinion
A Framework for Building Artificial Intelligence Capabilities
After decades of promise and hype, artificial intelligence has finally reached a tipping point of market acceptance.
From ACM Opinion
In S v. Microsoft, a Decades-Old Law Leaves Few Good Options
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in United States v. Microsoft, a case that many observers believe could have significant ramifications for how...
From ACM Opinion
Tech Companies Should Stop Pretending AI Won't Destroy Jobs
I took an Uber to an artificial-intelligence conference at MIT one recent morning, and the driver asked me how long it would take for autonomous vehicles to take...
From ACM Opinion
Where the 'Crisis Actor' Conspiracy Theory Comes From
The term "crisis actor" has been in the news a lot lately, because conspiracy theorists have accused survivors of the Douglas High School mass shooting in Parkland...
From ACM Opinion
Russia's Troll Operation Was Not That Sophisticated
It might be nice for Democrats and #NeverTrumpers to believe that Russia's troll factory brought Donald Trump the 2016 Presidential Election.
From ACM News
2 Years After FBI vs. Apple, Encryption Debate Remains
It's been two years since the FBI and Apple got into a giant fight over encryption following the San Bernardino shooting, when the government had the shooter's...
From ACM Opinion
China's Dystopian Tech Could Be Contagious
For all the particularities of life in China, its big cities offer a familiar cosmopolitanism.
From ACM Opinion
19th-Century Paleontology Was at the Forefront of Big Data
In 1981, when I was 9 years old, my father took me to see Raiders of the Lost Ark.
From ACM Opinion
How Snapchat Is Sending #MeToo Down the Memory Hole
If you have something personal or private to communicate, you know where to turn.
From ACM Opinion
Blockchain Explained: It Builds Trust When You Need It Most
These days, we're having a harder and harder time trusting each other.
From ACM Opinion
Computational Propaganda: Bots, Targeting, and the Future
A long time ago, when I was working on my Ph.D. research, I learned to use supercomputers to track the complex 3-D motions of gas blown into space by dying stars...
From ACM Opinion
Welcome to the Post-Text Future
I'll make this short: The thing you're doing now, reading prose on a screen, is going out of fashion.
From ACM Opinion