Communications of the ACM
Generative AI Degrades Online Communities
How large language models are influencing online communities.
From ACM Opinion
When Iphones Ring, the Economy Listens
Gloomy economic news and the wild swings of the stock market may be getting you down. But at least you can count on this: We’ve entered the sweet spot of the ...
From ACM Opinion
Could Robots Become Too Cute For Comfort?
Would you share your innermost secret with a robot?
From ACM Opinion
Christine Kenneally's 'invisible History of the Human Race'
Of Christine Kenneally’s father’s father—a man neither Kenneally nor her father ever knew, a man who did the deed requisite to reproduction and promptly vanished—she...
From ACM Opinion
Okcupid's Xoxo For Big Surveillance
Christian Rudder is a good writer—so good, in fact, it's easy for readers of Dataclysm: Who We Are (When We Think No One’s Looking) to be smitten by his engaging...
From ACM Opinion
To Siri, With Love
Just how bad a mother am I? I wondered, as I watched my 13-year-old son deep in conversation with Siri.
From ACM Opinion
How Big Data Algorithms See s—while They Eat S p
Four years ago I interviewed Sam Yagan, then CEO of OKCupid, about the mathematics underlying his free matchmaking site.
From ACM Opinion
The Adultery Arms Race
Jay's wife, Ann, was supposed to be out of town on business.
From ACM Opinion
The August Smart Lock Shows Why You Should Stick With Dumb Keys
You almost certainly don't need a digital smart lock for your front door.
From ACM Opinion
Why Germans Are Afraid of Google
These days Germany is known for being many things: a leader in clean technology, a manufacturing powerhouse, Europe's foreign policy center.
From ACM Opinion
Find Out What Your Zip Code Predicts You'll Buy
Where you live says a lot about you—and nobody knows that better than marketeers. Now, though, you can take a glimpse at what they know, using this searchable map...
From ACM Opinion
Should We Tailor Difficulty of a School Text to Child's Comfort Level or Make Them Sweat?
"A man who traveled from Liberia to visit family members in Texas tested positive for Ebola on Tuesday, marking the outbreak's first diagnosis outside of Africa...
From ACM Opinion
The Planning Machine
In June, 1972, Ángel Parra, Chile’s leading folksinger, wrote a song titled "Litany for a Computer and a Baby About to Be Born."
From ACM Opinion
Your Phone Screen Just Won the Nobel Prize in Physics
You've probably got the fruits of this year’s Nobel laureates' handiwork in your pocket. In fact, if you're reading this on your phone or a relatively recent flat...
From ACM Opinion
Can Virtual Reality Make You a Better Person?
"This is already so real, I don’t know if I even want to do this anymore," I say out loud.
From ACM Opinion
The Nsa and Me
The tone of the answering machine message was routine, like a reminder for a dental appointment. But there was also an undercurrent of urgency.
From ACM Opinion
How Humans Could Inhabit the Solar System
With our rising planet's population competing for space and resources, some people are convinced we need to look beyond Earth to help ensure humanity's survival...
From ACM Careers
The Google Formula For Success
Can Google’s winning ways be applied to all kinds of businesses?
From ACM Opinion
Cyborgs: The Truth About Human Augmentation
At the height of summer, when London was baking in unseasonable heat, I made an ill-fated trip to the Serpentine lido in central London.
From ACM Opinion