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
Where Do All the Old Programmers Go?
In a recent editorial, Norman Matloff, a professor of computer science at the University of California, Davis, describes software engineering as a career dead end...
From ACM Opinion
Dwarf Planets Aren't Big News, Because Astronomy Is Doing a Great Job
Last week, astronomers announced the discovery of DeeDee, a possible dwarf planet. That name—dwarf planet—means it is like Pluto: Massive enough to assume a spherical...
From ACM Opinion
Algorithms Aren't Biased, But the People Who Write Them May Be
A provocative new book called "Weapons of Math Destruction" has inspired some charged headlines. But author Cathy O'Neil's message is subtle: Math isn't biased....
From ACM Opinion
Inside Nat Geo's Incredible Documentary Mission to Mars
A spaceship is preparing to land on Mars when the crew notices that one of the thrusters isn’t firing.
From ACM Opinion
Maths Becomes Biology's Magic Number
"If you want a career in medicine these days you're better off studying mathematics or computing than biology."
From ACM Opinion
I Just Want Nate Silver to Tell Me It's All Going to Be Fine
Evan has a habit. He's not ashamed of it, but he doesn't want to reveal too much about himself, lest his colleagues learn how he’s spending so much of his time.
From ACM Opinion
George Orwell Never Dreamed of Advertising as Invasive as Yahoo's Proposal
Yahoo wants to take advertising to the next level—that is, the Orwellian level—bombarding people in public places with targeted advertising served up by the surveillance...
From ACM Opinion
How to Turn Your Self-Driving Car Into a Time Machine
The self-driving car's greatest promise is that it will buy its passengers that most precious and finite of resources: time.
From ACM Opinion
There Is a Blind Spot in AI Research
This week, the White House published its report on the future of artificial intelligence (AI)—a product of four workshops held between May and July 2016 in Seattle...
From ACM Opinion
Obama's Concerned an AI Could Hack America's Nukes
During his eight years in office, President Barack Obama has seen hackers grow into a threat no president has faced before.
From ACM Opinion
Ron Wyden Discusses Encryption, Data Privacy and Security
Ron Wyden, U.S. senator from Oregon and a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, recently talked about the privacy-versus-security debate.
From ACM Opinion
Russian Hacking Crisis Tests Obama's Nerve
President Barack Obama came under immediate pressure Friday night to punish Russia for hacking into US political institutions—with calls to rally European allies...
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
Google Is Listening
You know the cliché that if you're not paying for the product, you are the product?
From ACM Opinion
Would It Be Ethical to Implant False Memories in Therapy?
Take a moment to remember an event that you experienced as a child.
From ACM Opinion
Desperately Seeking the Nobel Prize For Computer Science
In its 115-year history, the Nobel Prize has endured just one innovation — the prize for economic sciences. It could use an update. It needs a dedicated prize for...
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