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
AI Is Not Going to Reinvent the Alphabet Anytime Soon
Artificial intelligence does not understand how humans read well enough to design type on its own.
From ACM Opinion
The Overlooked Upsides of Algorithms in the Workplace
Orly Lobel, a law professor at the University of San Diego, believes technology can make the world a better place — and she knows in 2022, that makes her a bit...
From ACM Opinion
Virtual Reality Stinks Because It Does Not Smell
For VR to feel truly immersive, it needs to start stinking it up.
From ACM Opinion
Seriously, Stop Trying to Teach Toddlers How to Code
There are other, more important lessons to impart to your preschooler.
From ACM Opinion
The Cyberwar Needs More Women on the Front Lines
Educating girls to be the cybersecurity leaders of tomorrow will help combat criminals who prey on women and children.
From ACM Opinion
When School Is Online, the Digital Divide Grows Greater
Most U.S. schools are closed, with instruction shifting to the Internet. That's a problem for millions of people without reliable broadband, including 20 percent...
From ACM Opinion
VR Could Be the Most Powerful Teaching Tool Since the PC
Virtual reality is much more than a gaming technology. In fact, VR has the makings of a pedagogical silver bullet.
From ACM Opinion
Digital Textbooks Are Forcing a Radical Shift in Higher Education
The last several years have seen a shift in textbook policies at colleges and universities — one that has more recently turned tectonic.
From ACM Opinion
What Trump's Executive Order on AI Is Missing
President Trump signed an executive order on February 11 meant to shore up our competitive position in the international race for AI supremacy, but it is short...
From ACM Opinion
Trump's Plan to Keep America First in AI
The US leads the world in artificial intelligence technology. Decades of federal research funding, industrial and academic research, and streams of foreign talent...
From ACM Opinion
The S Needs to Engage China on Tech, Or Risk Isolating Itself
The contrast could hardly be more striking. In October, Vice President Mike Pence delivered a blistering speech accusing China of stealing prized US technology...
From ACM Opinion
Brett Kavanaugh and the Information Terrorists Trying to Reshape America
Since the advent of Donald Trump's candidacy, there's been a ton of focus on botnets and sockpuppets—automated and semiautomated social media accounts that use...
From ACM Opinion
Why Westerners Fear Robots and the Japanese Do Not
As a Japanese, I grew up watching anime like "Neon Genesis Evangelion," which depicts a future in which machines and humans merge into cyborg ecstasy.
From ACM Opinion
Self-Driving Cars Likely Won't Steal Your Job (ntil 2040)
The self-driving robots are coming to transform your job. Kind of. Also, very slowly.
From ACM Opinion
Chinese-American Elites Lament a Brewing Trade War
It's not easy to promote closer US-China ties these days.
From ACM Opinion
When John Doerr Brought a 'Gift' to Google's Founders
On a fall day in 1999, in the heart of Silicon Valley, I arrived at a two-story, L-shaped structure off the 101 freeway. It was young Google's headquarters, and...
From ACM Opinion
Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training in Robotic Surgery
If you think your on-the-job training was tough, imagine what life is like for newbie surgeons.
From ACM Opinion
The Limits of Explainability
When we look at a stack of blocks or a stack of Oreos, we intuitively have a sense of how stable it is, whether it might fall over, and in what direction it may...
From ACM Opinion
The Dangers of Keeping Women Out of Tech
Maria Klawe has done what tech has not. For the past 11 years, she has served as the president of Harvey Mudd College, where the number of women in its computer...
From ACM Opinion