Communications of the ACM
Innovation Is Overrated: A Provocation
Digital innovation is not working in the interest of the whole of society. It is time to radically rethink its purpose without…
From ACM Opinion
What the Future of Work Means for Cities
Two weeks ago, MIT's David Autor gave the prestigious Richard T. Ely lecture at the annual meeting of American economists in Atlanta. Introduced by the former chair...
From ACM Opinion
The Russia Investigations: The U.S. Launches a Digital Offensive, Gently
Everyone knows how to picture the special operations troopers of, for example, the Army's elite Delta Force: Rough-looking customers with custom carbines and advanced...
From ACM Opinion
Autonomous Weapons Would Take Warfare to a New Domain, Without Humans
Killer robots have been a staple of TV and movies for decades, from Westworld to The Terminator series. But in the real world, killer robots are officially known...
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
This 'Gray Hat' Hacker Breaks Into Your Car, to Prove a Point
Cybercrime is expanding beyond computers and cellphones. Cars, washers and dryers, and even toasters are going online—an evolution of technology called the ...
From ACM Opinion
The Father of the Internet Sees His Invention Reflected Back Through a 'Black Mirror'
In 1984, two men were thinking a lot about the Internet. One of them invented it. The other is an artist who would see its impact on society with uncanny prescience...
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
Learning to Spot Fake News: Start with a Gut Check
Which of these statements seems more trustworthy to you?
From ACM Opinion
President Trump's New Order Gives China Tech Opportunity To 'hire American' Too
The same week that President Trump issued his hire American executive order, the president of one of China's top tech companies said his company wants to do the...
From ACM Opinion
Will Algorithms Erode Our Decision-Making Skills?
Algorithms are embedded into our technological lives, helping accomplish a variety of tasks like making sure that email makes it to your aunt or that you're matched...
From ACM Opinion
Despite Its Promise, the Internet of Things Remains Vulnerable
More and more of the things we use every day are being connected to the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
Before Apple And Facebook, There Was Something More Revolutionary
It's easy to think that the modern era in communication began in the 1990s with the birth of the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
Remembering a Thinker Who Thought About Thinking
The field of educational technology is mourning a visionary whose work was considered 50 years ahead of its time.
From ACM Opinion
If To Err Is Human, Should Technology Help s Shed Some Humanity?
By all accounts, technology has made us safer.
From ACM Opinion
Documentary Explores The Cyber-War Secrets Of Stuxnet
Alex Gibney's new documentary, Zero Days, looks at the Stuxnet worm—a cyber weapon developed by the U.S. and Israel.
From ACM Opinion
After Moore's Law: Predicting The Future Beyond Silicon Chips
For several decades now, Georgia Tech professor Tom Conte has been studying how to improve computers: "How do we make them faster and more efficient next time around...
From ACM Opinion
Grandfather of Vr: The Virtual Can Show the Beauty of the Real
Thomas Furness is known as the pioneer who stood at the inception of what we know today as virtual reality.
From ACM Opinion
What Machines Can Learn from People and We Can Learn from Them
Guruduth Banavar is an executive at IBM leading the team developing a new generation of cognitive systems—don't call it artificial intelligence—known as Watson.
From ACM Opinion
Apple Ceo Tim Cook: 'privacy Is a Fundamental Human Right'
Apple has long touted the power and design of its devices, but recently the world's most valuable company has been emphasizing another feature: privacy.
From ACM Opinion
How Close Are We Really to a Robot-Run Society?
From Rosie, the Jetsons' robot maid, to Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg in The Terminator, popular culture has frequently conceived of robots as having a human-like...12