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
Eric Schmidt: I Used to Run Google. Silicon Valley Could Lose to China.
We can't win the technology wars without the federal government's help.
From ACM Opinion
We're Banning Facial Recognition. We're Missing the Point.
The whole point of modern surveillance is to treat people differently, and facial recognition technologies are only a small part of that.
From ACM Opinion
I Invented the World Wide Web. Here’s How We Can Fix It.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee wanted the Web to serve humanity. He says it's not too late to live up to that promise.
From ACM Opinion
We Shouldn't be Scared by 'Superintelligent A.I.'
Bostrom, Russell, and other writers argue that even if the probability is small that superintelligent machines will emerge in the foreseeable future, we should...
From ACM Opinion
Why Google's Quantum Supremacy Milestone Matters
Quantum computing is the first computing paradigm since Turing expected to change the fundamental scaling behavior of algorithms, making certain tasks feasible...
From ACM Opinion
How to Build Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust
Computer systems need to understand time, space and causality. Right now they don't.
From ACM Opinion
A Journey, If You Dare, Into the Minds of Silicon Valley Programmers
Code seems cold and objective, the raw logic of the internet, and Silicon Valley likes it that way.
From ACM Opinion
Limiting Your Digital Footprints in a Surveillance State
What are your most important tech tools for reporting in Shanghai, especially with a government known for surveillance?
From ACM Opinion
Don't Fight the Robots. Tax Them.
When Bill Gates floated the idea of imposing a tax on robots a couple of years ago, Lawrence Summers, a former top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, called...
From ACM Opinion
An Intrepid Explorer of Mars Falls Silent
Opportunity, formally known as Mars Exploration Rover B but as Oppy to its many friends and admirers, was pronounced dead on Wednesday after a final round of beamed...
From ACM Opinion
The Two Codes Your Kids Need to Know
A few years ago, the leaders of the College Board, the folks who administer the SAT college entrance exam, asked themselves a radical question: Of all the skills...
From ACM Opinion
How Silicon Valley Puts the 'Con' in Consent
The average person would have to spend 76 working days reading all of the digital privacy policies they agree to in the span of a year. Reading Amazon's terms and...
From ACM Opinion
To Cover China, There's No Substitute for WeChat
How do New York Times journalists use technology in their jobs and in their personal lives? Li Yuan, a technology columnist in Hong Kong, discussed the tech she's...
From ACM Opinion
The Tech That Was Fixed in 2018 and the Tech That Still Needs Fixing
Personal technology was so awful this year that nobody would think you were paranoid if you dug a hole and buried your computer, phone and smart speaker under six...
From ACM Opinion
The Robots Have Descended on Trump Country
The growing use of work robots and the deployment of artificial intelligence have been most disruptive in just those areas of the country that provided President...
From ACM Opinion
Can the .S. Stop China From Controlling the Next Internet Age?
Imagine, if you will (and you should), a big American tech executive being detained over unspecified charges while on a trip to Beijing.
From ACM Opinion
The End of Privacy Began in the 1960s
In the fall of 1965, President Lyndon Johnson's administration announced a plan to consolidate hundreds of federal databases into one centralized National Data...
From ACM Opinion
Mars Beckons
The science and technology behind NASA's latest space explorer to land on Mars are so awe-inducing that it's hardly surprising when scientists commenting on the...
From ACM Opinion
The New Radicalization of the Internet
Social media has played a key role in the recent rise of violent right-wing extremism in the United States, including three recent incidents—one in which a man...
From ACM Opinion