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
U.S. Science and Technology Offer Hope for the Future
The scientific advances announced in recent months are thrilling, capable of sustaining our economic and military competitiveness for decades to come.
From ACM Opinion
The New AI Writing Tool Might Teach Us the Value of Truth
AI literally does not care what is true.
From ACM Opinion
How AI Could Accidentally Extinguish Humankind
Humanity is not prepared for artificial superintelligence right now.
From ACM Opinion
Don't Give Your Dot-org Domain Away to a Private Company
One of the Internet's most trusted assets — the dot-org domain used by nonprofits from UNICEF to your local food bank — is being hijacked.
From ACM Opinion
Is Julian Assange a Journalist, or Is He Just an Accused Thief?
Is Julian Assange a journalist? The Justice Department sidestepped that question in its indictment of Assange.
From ACM Opinion
U.S. Allies Should Heed the Warnings about Huawei
In a recent newspaper advertisement, the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei appealed to common sense.
From ACM Opinion
Why Scientists Sometimes Make Extraordinary Claims
The interstellar object known as 'Oumuamua plunged into our solar system in 2017, leaving a trail of mystery in its wake.
From ACM Opinion
The New Censors Won't Delete Your Words; They'll Drown Them Out
Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth. Each day, the hero of George Orwell's "1984" "corrects" old newspapers to make sure that the information is in still...
From ACM Opinion
Happy 18th Birthday, Wikipedia. Let's Celebrate the Internet's Good Grown-p.
On Tuesday, Wikipedia celebrates its 18th birthday. If the massive crowdsourced encyclopedia project were human, then in most countries, it would just now be considered...
From ACM Opinion
A Reason to Despair About the Digital Future: Deepfakes
A despairing prediction for the digital future came from an unlikely source recently. Speaking of "deepfakes," or media manipulated through artificial intelligence...
From ACM Opinion
How Russia sed the Internet to Perfect Its Dark Arts
Imagine American politics for a moment as a laboratory experiment. A foreign adversary (let's call it "Russia") begins to play with the subjects, using carrots...
From ACM Opinion
I Fell for Facebook Fake News. Here's Why Millions of You Did, Too.
The Facebook video is nuts, but I can't tear my eyes away. A plane, struggling in a huge storm, does a 360-degree flip before safely landing and letting out terrified...
From ACM News
Here's What We Know about Google's Mysterious Search Engine
President Trump thinks Google's search engine is "rigged." By featuring more mainstream news outlets and relatively fewer conservative sites in the results he sees...
From ACM Opinion
Google's China Plan Isn't Just Evil, It's Bad for Business
Google is proposing a new Faustian bargain with the Chinese government that isn't just morally wrong; it's also terrible for business. Experience has shown that...
From ACM Opinion
What Was on a SB Fan Given at the Trump-Kim Summit? Security Experts Say Nothing, but Don't Plug It In.
When journalists arrived in Singapore for the historic summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un last month, security experts were alarmed...
From ACM Opinion
The .S. Once Again Has the World's Fastest Supercomputer. Keep p the Hustle.
The United States has knocked China out of the No. 1 position in supercomputing.
From ACM Opinion
The Supreme Court Just Struck a Blow Against Mass Surveillance
The Supreme Court decided Friday that cell-site location information is protected by the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures...
From ACM Opinion
Someone Is Watching You
Isn't technology wonderful? At Purdue University, the same IT infrastructure that enables us to manage student assignments and grades, operate residential and dining...
From ACM Opinion
They Survived a School Shooting Only to Wage Battle in Some of the Nastiest Corners of the Internet
In person, Sarah Chadwick and Jaclyn Corin are fierce. And young.
From ACM Opinion