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
Billion-Dollar Telescopes Could End p Beyond the Reach of S Astronomers
Every ten years, US astronomers set research priorities for the following decade.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Television Is … More Television
Call it Jeffrey Katzenberg's unicorn newborn. An operating company has come into being, ex nihilo, with the blandest of names—NewTV—and a valuation north of $1...
From ACM Opinion
Are Blockchains the Answer for Secure Elections? Probably Not
With the U.S. heading into a pivotal midterm election, little progress has been made on ensuring the integrity of voting systems—a concern that retook the spotlight...
From ACM Opinion
Honoring the '80s, Def Con's Badge Is also a Text Adventure
Nearly 30,000 people came to Las Vegas last week for the 26th edition of DEF CON, the iconic security conference. And no small amount of the mental energy of that...
From ACM Opinion
Hackers Are Out to Jeopardize Your Vote
Russian hackers targeted US electoral systems during the 2016 presidential election.
From ACM Opinion
Why AI Researchers Shouldn't Turn Their Backs on the Military
More than 2,400 AI researchers recently signed a pledge promising not to build so-called autonomous weapons—systems that would decide on their own whom to kill....
From ACM Opinion
Google Tracks You Even If Location History's Off. Here's How to Stop It
If, like most people, you thought Google stopped tracking your location once you turned off Location History in your account settings, you were wrong.
From ACM Opinion
How Your Brain Tricks You Into Believing Fake News
Sitting in front of a computer not long ago, a tenured history professor faced a challenge that billions of us do every day: deciding whether to believe something...
From ACM Opinion
AI for Cybersecurity Is a Hot New Thing, and a Dangerous Gamble
When I walked around the exhibition floor at this week's massive Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, I was struck by the number of companies boasting...
From ACM Opinion
There Will Never Be an Age of Artificial Intimacy
Years ago I spoke with a 16-year-old girl who was considering the idea of having a computer companion in the future, and she described the upside to me.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Duplex AI Scares Some People, but I Can't Wait for It to Become a Thing
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Arthur C. Clarke famously wrote. That line must have zoomed through 5,000 audience brains...
From ACM Opinion
Brains Keep Temporary Molecular Records Before Making a Lasting Memory
The first dance at my wedding lasted exactly four minutes and 52 seconds, but I'll probably remember it for decades.
From ACM Opinion
3D-Printed (and CNC-Milled) Guns: Nine Questions You Were Too Afraid to Ask
By now, you've probably seen all the news regarding Defense Distributed, company founder Cody Wilson, and 3D-printed guns.
From ACM Opinion
Online Hate Is Rampant. Here's How to Keep It From Spreading
Back in the last presidential campaign season, reporters on the tech and politics beats began noticing a rise in far-right memes that supported Trump. Memes being...
From ACM Opinion
Startup JITX ses AI to Automate Complex Circuit Board Design
While anyone can learn how to design a circuit board, it takes a skilled engineer to design a circuit board that is both well optimized and unlikely to melt, explode...
From ACM Opinion
Mars Is Frigid, Rusty and Haunted. We Can’t Stop Looking at It.
There it was: Glowering red on the dashboard of the sky like an astrological warning light next to the full Blood Moon Friday. Mars.
From ACM Opinion
China's Numbers Force Google to Recalculate Its Morals
In 2010, Google made a moral calculus. The company had been censoring search results in China at the behest of the Communist government since launching there in...
From ACM Opinion
As Moore's Law Dies, the Chip Giants Seek Fresh Prey
After a five-year, $240 billion acquisition spree, there's a suspicion that the nature of deal-making in the semiconductor industry may be starting to change.
From ACM Opinion
Weaponized Information Seeks a New Target in Cyberspace: Users' Minds
The Russian attacks on the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the country's continuing election-related hacking have happened across all three dimensions of cyberspace—physical...
From ACM Opinion