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If To Err Is Human, Should Technology Help ­s Shed Some Humanity?
From ACM Opinion

If To Err Is Human, Should Technology Help ­s Shed Some Humanity?

By all accounts, technology has made us safer.

Waiting For Gödel
From ACM Opinion

Waiting For Gödel

In June of 1975, the Office of the White House Press Secretary announced President Gerald R. Ford’s picks for the National Medal of Science. One went to the Austrian...

How the Computer Beat the Go Player
From ACM Opinion

How the Computer Beat the Go Player

The victory in March of the computer program AlphaGo over one of the world's top handful of go players marks the highest accomplishment to date for the burgeoning...

How Alan Turing Found Machine Thinking in the Human Mind
From ACM Opinion

How Alan Turing Found Machine Thinking in the Human Mind

In 1935, Alan Turing set out to build a reputation by outflanking the world's leading mathematician.

How to Stop Robocalls … or at Least Fight Back
From ACM Opinion

How to Stop Robocalls … or at Least Fight Back

"This is a final notice from the IRS."

Meet the Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You've Ever Seen
From ACM Opinion

Meet the Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You've Ever Seen

Boris Sofman taps his phone, and the robot on the conference room table in front of him wakes up. Not in that gadget-y way, like when a laptop screen turns on,...

How Risky Are the World Economic Forum's Top 10 Emerging Technologies For 2016?
From ACM Opinion

How Risky Are the World Economic Forum's Top 10 Emerging Technologies For 2016?

Take an advanced technology. Add a twist of fantasy. Stir well, and watch the action unfold.

How Charles Bachman Invented the DBMS, a Foundation of Our Digital World
From Communications of the ACM

How Charles Bachman Invented the DBMS, a Foundation of Our Digital World

His 1963 Integrated Data Store set the template for all subsequent database management systems.

After Orlando, the Homemade Ar-15 Industry Surges
From ACM Opinion

After Orlando, the Homemade Ar-15 Industry Surges

In the wake of the worst mass shooting in US history, many Americans want to ban civilians from buying the AR-15, that ultra-popular, all-American killing tool.

Self-Driving Cars Could Flip the Auto Insurance Industry on Its Head
From ACM Opinion

Self-Driving Cars Could Flip the Auto Insurance Industry on Its Head

As the driverless car gets closer to reality, so too does the dilemma of how to insure the car and its owner.

Bringing Precision to the AI Safety Discussion
From ACM Opinion

Bringing Precision to the AI Safety Discussion

We believe that AI technologies are likely to be overwhelmingly useful and beneficial for humanity. But part of being a responsible steward of any new technology...

Here's Your Chance to Decode President Lincoln's Secret Messages
From ACM Opinion

Here's Your Chance to Decode President Lincoln's Secret Messages

On April 12, 1865—three days after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and two days before President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated—the president sent...

Basic Income: A Sellout of the American Dream
From ACM Opinion

Basic Income: A Sellout of the American Dream

Matt Krisiloff is in a small, glass-walled conference room off the lobby of Y Combinator’s office in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, shouting distance...

Orlando Shows the Limits of Facebook's Terror Policing
From ACM Opinion

Orlando Shows the Limits of Facebook's Terror Policing

Both leading up to and during his deadly assault on Orlando night club Pulse, Omar Mateen accessed his Facebook account.

Too Cute For Their Own Good, Robots Get Self-Defense Instincts
From ACM Opinion

Too Cute For Their Own Good, Robots Get Self-Defense Instincts

At a shopping mall here one recent Friday, six-year-old Ruby Dowling made friends with a friendly egg-shaped robot.

It'll Be Very Hard For Terrorism Victim's Family to Win Lawsuit Against Twitter
From ACM Opinion

It'll Be Very Hard For Terrorism Victim's Family to Win Lawsuit Against Twitter

Legal experts say that it will be an uphill battle for the plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit this week against Twitter, Facebook, and Google.

For the Golden State Warriors, Brain-Zapping Could Provide an Edge
From ACM Opinion

For the Golden State Warriors, Brain-Zapping Could Provide an Edge

Back in March, James Michael McAdoo, the power forward for the Golden State Warriors, tweeted out a photo of himself in the training room, sporting a pair of slick...

Losing Control: The Dangers of Killer Robots
From ACM Opinion

Losing Control: The Dangers of Killer Robots

New technology could lead humans to relinquish control over decisions to use lethal force.

What Happens If Gps Fails?
From ACM Opinion

What Happens If Gps Fails?

In only took thirteen millionths of a second to cause a whole lot of problems.

Deep Learning Isn't a Dangerous Magic Genie. It's Just Math
From ACM Opinion

Deep Learning Isn't a Dangerous Magic Genie. It's Just Math

Deep learning is rapidly 'eating' artificial intelligence. But let's not mistake this ascendant form of artificial intelligence for anything more than it really...
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