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
Earth, the Final Frontier
On April 1, 1960, the newly established National Aeronautics and Space Administration heaved a 270-pound box of electronics into Earth orbit.
From ACM Opinion
Silicon Valley Reels After Trump's Election
Silicon Valley's luminaries woke up Wednesday morning to a darkened new global order, one that the ceaseless optimism of their tech-powered visions seemed suddenly...
From ACM Opinion
How Data Failed S in Calling an Election
It was a rough night for number crunchers. And for the faith that people in every field—business, politics, sports and academia—have increasingly placed in the...
From ACM Opinion
What We've Learned About the Media Industry During This Election
When the 2016 campaign began, legacy news organizations already faced dim industry projections.
From ACM Opinion
Time to Dump Time Zones
We will awaken Sunday to yet another disturbance in the chronosphere—our twice-yearly jolt from resetting the clocks, mechanical and biological.
From ACM Opinion
We Went to the Grace Hopper Celebration. Here's What We're Bringing Back
Members of The New York Times Developers recently made their first group trip to the Grace Hopper Celebration. At 15,000 attendees, GHC is the world's largest gathering...
From ACM Opinion
Who Oversees Data Brokers Selling Your Personal Info? No One
You probably already know that you have precious little privacy, and that shadowy data brokers have built the buying and selling of people’s personal information...
From ACM Opinion
A.i. Inspiration: The Science Fiction That Frames Discussion
Science fiction comes up often in serious discussions about artificial intelligence and weapons.
From ACM Opinion
If They Google You, Do You Win?
Are voters misleading pollsters? Are there hidden Donald Trump supporters who could throw the election his way?
From ACM Opinion
Whoever Wins the White House, This Year's Big Loser Is Email
Every four years, pundits race to anoint this or that newfangled tech trend as the next disruptive force to forever alter the mechanics of American democracy.
From ACM Opinion
Surveillance in the Post-Obama Era
During his 2008 campaign, President Obama vowed to assert greater oversight of the massive surveillance apparatus built in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, arguing...
From ACM Opinion
The Problem With Google's 'star Trek' Computer
Google is hoping to develop its Assistant, a Siri-like technology to be included on the company's new smartphones and other products, into something like the computer...
From ACM Opinion
For the Debaters: What Shall We Do About the Tech Careening Our Way?
Here's a question I’m hoping comes up at Monday's presidential debate: Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump, what would you do about self-driving trucks?
From ACM Opinion
The Time I Went on Border Patrol in a Virtual Reality World
I found myself on a desolate desert road, in front of a man who was leaning against the hood of a banged-up sedan and next to a United States Border Patrol agent...
From ACM Opinion
How Tech Giants Are Devising Real Ethics For Artificial Intelligence
For years, science-fiction moviemakers have been making us fear the bad things that artificially intelligent machines might do to their human creators.
From ACM Opinion
Can We Trust Julian Assange and Wikileaks?
The release of a cache of emails from the Democratic National Committee by WikiLeaks last month has raised a great many questions—about the role of the D.N.C. in...
From ACM Opinion
Lessons From the Tesla Crash
A recent fatal crash in Florida involving a Tesla Model S is an example of how a new technology designed to make cars safer could, in some cases, make them more...
From ACM Opinion
Self-Driving Cars Could Flip the Auto Insurance Industry on Its Head
As the driverless car gets closer to reality, so too does the dilemma of how to insure the car and its owner.
From ACM Opinion