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dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectSoftware
authorThe Guardian
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Human-Like Programs Abuse Our Empathy
From ACM Opinion

Human-Like Programs Abuse Our Empathy

It is easy to be fooled by the mimicry, but consumers need transparency about how such systems are used.

We're Approaching the Limits of Computer Power – We Need New Programmers Now
From ACM Opinion

We're Approaching the Limits of Computer Power – We Need New Programmers Now

Ever-faster processors led to bloated software, but physical limits may force a return to the concise code of the past.

'The Goal Is to Automate ­s': Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism
From ACM Opinion

'The Goal Is to Automate ­s': Welcome to the Age of Surveillance Capitalism

We're living through the most profound transformation in our information environment since Johannes Gutenberg's invention of printing in circa 1439.

Google at 20: How Two 'Obnoxious' Students Changed the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Google at 20: How Two 'Obnoxious' Students Changed the Internet

In the summer of 1995, a second-year grad student called Sergey Brin was giving a tour of Stanford University to prospective students. Larry Page, an engineering...

Teleportation: Will It Ever Be a Possibility?
From ACM Opinion

Teleportation: Will It Ever Be a Possibility?

Star Trek has a lot to answer for.

Has Dopamine Got ­s Hooked on Tech?
From ACM News

Has Dopamine Got ­s Hooked on Tech?

In an unprecedented attack of candour, Sean Parker, the 38-year-old founding president of Facebook, recently admitted that the social network was founded not to...

Cyberwar: An ­rgent Problem
From ACM Opinion

Cyberwar: An ­rgent Problem

In the desperate scramble to rearm before the second world war there was always an undercurrent of pessimism.

Tim Berners-Lee on the Future of the Web: 'the System Is Failing'
From ACM Opinion

Tim Berners-Lee on the Future of the Web: 'the System Is Failing'

Sir Tim Berners-Lee's optimism about the future of the web is starting to wane in the face of a "nasty storm" of issues including the rollback of net neutrality...

The Guardian View on the Future of Crime: It Will Be Online
From ACM Opinion

The Guardian View on the Future of Crime: It Will Be Online

When software gets smarter, the first effect is to empower the already powerful.

Google, Democracy and the Truth About Internet Search
From ACM News

Google, Democracy and the Truth About Internet Search

Here's what you don’t want to do late on a Sunday night. You do not want to type seven letters into Google. That's all I did.

Genevieve Bell: 'humanity's Greatest Fear Is About Being Irrelevant'
From ACM Opinion

Genevieve Bell: 'humanity's Greatest Fear Is About Being Irrelevant'

Genevieve Bell is an Australian anthropologist who has been working at tech company Intel for 18 years, where she is currently head of sensing and insights.

Can a Chatbot Teach You a Foreign Language? Duolingo Thinks So
From ACM Opinion

Can a Chatbot Teach You a Foreign Language? Duolingo Thinks So

Chatbots suck.

Why Data Is the New Coal
From ACM Opinion

Why Data Is the New Coal

"Is data the new oil?" asked proponents of big data back in 2012 in Forbes magazine. By 2016, and the rise of big data's turbo-powered cousin deep learning, westated Fortune...

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?
From ACM Opinion

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?

There are not many occasions when one can give an unqualified thumbs-up to something the government does, but this is one such occasion.

Y'all Have a Texas Accent? Siri (and the World) Might Be Slowly Killing It
From ACM Opinion

Y'all Have a Texas Accent? Siri (and the World) Might Be Slowly Killing It

It was a simple enough question, at least in this part of the world.

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?
From ACM News

Is Blockchain the Most Important It Invention of Our Age?

There are not many occasions when one can give an unqualified thumbs-up to something the government does, but this is one such occasion.

Artificial Intelligence: 'homo Sapiens Will Be Split Into a Handful of Gods and the Rest of ­s'
From ACM Opinion

Artificial Intelligence: 'homo Sapiens Will Be Split Into a Handful of Gods and the Rest of ­s'

If you wanted relief from stories about tyre factories and steel plants closing, you could try relaxing with a new 300-page report from Bank of America Merrill which...

16 Trends That Will Define the Future of Video Games
From ACM Opinion

16 Trends That Will Define the Future of Video Games

Hundreds of game developers, publishers and analysts recently descended on Brighton for the annual Develop conference.

Ad Tech Is Killing the Online Experience
From ACM Opinion

Ad Tech Is Killing the Online Experience

There's something so wonderfully easy about reading this column in a physical newspaper.

Artificial Intelligence Will Not Turn Into a Frankenstein's Monster
From ACM Opinion

Artificial Intelligence Will Not Turn Into a Frankenstein's Monster

The singularity—or, to give it its proper title, the technological singularity. It's an idea that has taken on a life of its own; more of a life, I suspect, than...
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