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
Three Problems with Facebook's Plan to Kill Hate Speech sing AI
Mark Zuckerberg told the US Congress this week that Facebook will increasingly rely on artificial intelligence to catch hate speech spread on the platform.
From ACM Opinion
Bitcoin Would Be a Calamity, Not an Economy
Earlier this year, Jack Dorsey, cofounder of Twitter and CEO of Square, declared that Bitcoin would become the world's "single currency" within a decade.
From ACM Opinion
To Protect Artificial Intelligence from Attacks, Show It Fake Data
AI systems can sometimes be tricked into seeing something that's not actually there, as when Google's software "saw" a 3-D-printed turtle as a rifle.
From ACM Opinion
Connectivity Hacking Back Makes a Comeback—but It's Still a Really Bad Idea
In spite of the billions of dollars companies collectively spend each year on cyberdefenses, hackers keep defeating them.
From ACM Opinion
Fiction That Gets AI Right
Even the most futuristic applications of AI, from robotic servants to instant health scans, somehow already seem familiar because they have been endless fodder...
From ACM Opinion
Smartphones Are Weapons of Mass Manipulation, and This Guy Is Declaring War on Them
If, like an ever-growing majority of people in the U.S., you own a smartphone, you might have the sense that apps in the age of the pocket-sized computer are designed...
From ACM Opinion
The Seven Deadly Sins of AI Predictions
We are surrounded by hysteria about the future of artificial intelligence and robotics—hysteria about how powerful they will become, how quickly, and what they...
From ACM Opinion
Russian Disinformation Technology
On July 17, 2014, as passengers checked in at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, "Necro Mancer"(@666_mancer) tweeted about an unusual...
From ACM Opinion
This Entrepreneur Dares You to Hack His Gadgets
Serial entrepreneur Andrew "Bunnie" Huang believes that consumer product companies should make their hardware designs publicly available so that anyone can study...
From ACM Opinion
Best Books of 2016
Our editors' picks for the best books of 2016, and some they're eagerly anticipating.
From ACM Opinion
Three Touchy Questions For Tech Leaders to Ask Trump
Few in the technology sector besides Peter Thiel had much love for Donald Trump during the presidential campaign.
From ACM Opinion
Mr. Robot Killed the Hollywood Hacker
For decades Hollywood has treated computers as magic boxes from which endless plot points could be conjured, in denial of all common sense.
From ACM Opinion
The Decline in Chinese Cyberattacks: The Story Behind the Numbers
Last summer, an audience of government officials, military personnel, and foreign ambassadors gathered in Aspen, Colorado, to hear John Carlin, then an assistant...
From ACM Opinion
Mark Zuckerberg's Long March to China
For U.S. Internet businesses, China is the land of moral defeat.
From ACM Opinion
The Internet Is No Place For Public Elections
Despite what your local election officials may tell you, you can’t trust the Internet with your vote.
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft's Top Lawyer Becomes a Civil Rights Crusader
When Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to help the FBI get into a mass murderer's iPhone last winter, he was hailed for his boldness in fighting the government on ...
From ACM Opinion
The Do-Not-Call List Has a Gaping Hole
Sure, legitimate telemarketers will refrain from calling you if you've put your phone number on it. But criminal telephone spammers will call you anyway because...
From ACM Opinion
Why Russian Hackers Probably Can't Mess with the .s. Election
State-sponsored Russian hackers appear to be behind attacks on voter databases in Arizona and Illinois.
From ACM Opinion
How to Read Between the Lines of Tim Cook's Epic Interview
To celebrate five years as CEO of Apple, Tim Cook has given a very long, exclusive interview to the Washington Post about his experiences so far. But what he didn’t...
From ACM Opinion