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
How to Tell If You're Talking to a Bot
Twitter recently took drastic action as part of an effort to slow the spread of misinformation through its platform, shutting down more than two million automated...
From ACM Opinion
Microprocessor Designers Realize Security Must Be a Primary Concern
Computers' amazing abilities to entertain people, help them work, and even respond to voice commands are, at their heart, the results of decades of technological...
From ACM Opinion
Darpa Plans a Major Remake of .S. Electronics
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is launching a huge expansion of its Electronics Resurgence Initiative, boosting the program to US $1.5 billion...
From ACM Opinion
Alexa: Don't Let My 2-Year-Old Talk to You That Way
Parents, your child may have a new secret friend: your smart speaker.
From ACM Opinion
Don Eyles: Space Hacker
In the early hours of 5 February 1971, Don Eyles had a big problem: Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were orbiting the moon, preparing to land...
From ACM Opinion
The S May Have Just Pulled Even with China in the Race to Build Supercomputing's Next Big Thing
There was much celebrating in America last month when the US Department of Energy unveiled Summit, the world's fastest supercomputer. Now the race is on to achieve...
From ACM Opinion
How We Proved Einstein Right on a Galactic Scale, and What It Means for Dark Energy and Dark Matter
Gravity may be the weakest of the fundamental forces in nature, but it is ultimately what enabled life on Earth to evolve.
From ACM Opinion
Senior Scientist Argues that We Should Bypass Europa for Enceladus
In its quest to find extant life in the Solar System, NASA has focused its gaze on the Jovian moon Europa, home to what is likely the largest ocean known to humans...
From ACM Opinion
China's Scientific Revolution
An old Chinese proverb says: "If you're planning for the year, cultivate rice; if you're planning for the decade, cultivate trees; if you're planning for the century...
From ACM Opinion
Could Quantum Computing Be the End of Free Will?
Faster, more powerful computing has the potential to revolutionize fields from drug delivery to freight transportation.
From ACM Opinion
Whoa! Meet the Future Phones that Fold p, Have 9 Cameras and Charge Over Thin Air.
Your next smartphone might just throw you a curve.
From ACM Opinion
Anthony Kennedy's Retirement May Have Huge Consequences for Privacy
Justice Anthony Kennedy, the current Supreme Court's longest-serving member, announced his retirement Wednesday, paving the way for Trump to shape the future America's...
From ACM Opinion
Quantum Computing Will Reshape Digital Battlefield, Says Former NSA Director Hayden
When retired Air Force General Michael Hayden took the helm of the National Security Agency in 1999 he found intelligence gathering, namely electronic espionage...
From ACM Opinion
Disrupting Pro-ISIS Online 'Ecosystems' Could Help Thwart Real-World Terrorism
Supporters of the Islamic State, or ISIS, around the world gather online, becoming members of virtual communities in much the same way any of us might join online...
From ACM Opinion
This Is How the Robot Uprising Finally Begins
The robot arm is performing a peculiar kind of Sisyphean task.
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
A Plea for AI That Serves Humanity Instead of Replacing It
Sixty-two years ago this summer, Dartmouth professor John McCarthy coined the term artificial intelligence. Joi Ito, director of MIT's Media Lab, has come to think...
From ACM Opinion
How Neal Stephenson Got Book Ideas by Moonlighting at Blue Origin
Neal Stephenson's breakout hit, Snow Crash, envisioned a world of virtual reality—in 1992. The Diamond Age foresaw the future of nanotechnology in 1995. The more...
From ACM Opinion