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I've Taught Computers to Paint Portraits — and How to Code
From ACM TechNews

I've Taught Computers to Paint Portraits — and How to Code

Falmouth University professor Simon Colton works with software that behaves in ways that would be deemed creative if observed in humans. In an interview, Colton...

Psychiatry Is Reinventing Itself Thanks to Advances in Biology
From ACM Opinion

Psychiatry Is Reinventing Itself Thanks to Advances in Biology

A revolution is under way in psychiatry. The science underpinning this discipline has in the past shifted from psychology to pharmacology, and now it is changing...

David and Goliath: What Do We Do About Surveillance?
From ACM Opinion

David and Goliath: What Do We Do About Surveillance?

"Dear subscriber, you have been registered as a participant in a mass disturbance."

Virtual Zombie Apocalypse Can Prepare ­S For Disaster
From ACM Opinion

Virtual Zombie Apocalypse Can Prepare ­S For Disaster

Why use online games to study our responses to catastrophic events?

Work in an Age of Robots
From ACM Opinion

Work in an Age of Robots

What you are about to read was written by a human. Honest.

Ex Machina: Quest to Create an AI Takes No Prisoners
From ACM Opinion

Ex Machina: Quest to Create an AI Takes No Prisoners

It's a rare thing to see a movie about science that takes no prisoners intellectually.

Fear Artificial Stupidity, Not Artificial Intelligence
From ACM Opinion

Fear Artificial Stupidity, Not Artificial Intelligence

It is not often that you are obliged to proclaim a much-loved genius wrong, but in his alarming prediction on artificial intelligence and the future of humankind...

Forget Turing—i Want to Test Computer Creativity
From ACM Opinion

Forget Turing—i Want to Test Computer Creativity

What are the elements of the Turing test?

Get Your Head Around the 13 Boldest Ideas in Science
From ACM Opinion

Get Your Head Around the 13 Boldest Ideas in Science

Science is full of mind-blowing and counterintuitive concepts.

How Big Data Algorithms See ­s—while They Eat ­S ­p
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.

What It's Like to Fly Passenger Planes from the Ground
From ACM Opinion

What It's Like to Fly Passenger Planes from the Ground

Bob Fraser explains what it feels like to pilot a Jetstream airliner containing passengers on 800-kilometre trips from his desk at BAE Systems in Warton, U.K.

Defending the Grand Vision of the Human Brain Project
From ACM Opinion

Defending the Grand Vision of the Human Brain Project

"A grass roots effort is under way to stop the project... 'Mediocre science, terrible science policy,' begins the spirited letter…"

Dobby, Pikachu, and Kermit Are My Robots' Role Models
From ACM Opinion

Dobby, Pikachu, and Kermit Are My Robots' Role Models

Humanoid robots aren't very charismatic yet.

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039
From ACM News

Cyborg Angst: 5 Ways Computers Will Perplex ­S in 2039

Brain chips mean we are struggling to distinguish our own thoughts from ideas implanted by advertisers.

Maths Spying: The Quandary of Working For the Spooks
From ACM Opinion

Maths Spying: The Quandary of Working For the Spooks

For the past 10 months, a major international scandal has engulfed some of the world's largest employers of mathematicians.

Smallest Subversive: Mathematical Fight For Our World
From ACM Opinion

Smallest Subversive: Mathematical Fight For Our World

Did you know that every time you use your cellphone, you strike a blow for republicanism against both monarchy and a fixed Divine Order?

Five Ways to Make Sure We Never Lose a Plane Again
From ACM Opinion

Five Ways to Make Sure We Never Lose a Plane Again

For the past few weeks the world's attention has been focussed on the lost Malaysia Airlines plane and its 239 passengers and crew that has apparently crashed in...

Bitcoin: How Its Core Technology Will Change the World
From ACM Opinion

Bitcoin: How Its Core Technology Will Change the World

Bitcoin has been called many things, from the future of money to a drug dealer's dream and everything else in between.

Lifelogging: What It's Like to Record Your Whole Life
From ACM Opinion

Lifelogging: What It's Like to Record Your Whole Life

Gordon Bell, one of the first people to chronicle his existence digitally, explains how it has changed his life and the potential pitfalls.

The Great Ideas Hiding ­nder the Invisibility Cloak
From ACM Opinion

The Great Ideas Hiding ­nder the Invisibility Cloak

Physicist John Pendry talks about the profound physics obscured by his invisibility cloak and how metamaterials could help realise the perfect lens.
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