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
What If the Internet Stopped Working For a Day?
Jeff Hancock likes to give his Stanford University students weekend assignments that let them experience concepts discussed in class for themselves.
From ACM Opinion
Lady Gaga's Halftime Show Drones Have a Bright Future
The best Super Bowl halftime shows leave indelible memories, be it a notorious wardrobe malfunction, that goofy Left Shark, or every last second of Beyoncé's two...
From ACM Opinion
Why Bill Belichick Cast Down His Tablet
As the New England Patriots' 10th appearance in a Super Bowl approaches, sports fans are eager to see the legendary pairing of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach...
From ACM Opinion
Police Could Get Your Location Data Without a Warrant. That Has to End
The more we rely on technology, the more detailed a technological footprint we leave behind.
From ACM Opinion
Reality Bites: Learning the Future of V.r. at Sundance
Standing in a pink desert landscape, I looked down and realized I'd become a robot, with skinny metal legs and pincers for hands.
From ACM Opinion
Explaining the pside and Downside of D-Wave's New Quantum Computer
D-Wave, a company based in British Columbia, has announced a new version of its quantum annealer: the D-Wave 2000Q. As the name suggests, the number of bits has...
From ACM Opinion
The ltimate Cure For the Fake-News Epidemic Will Be More Skeptical Readers
"Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President." "FBI Agent Suspected in Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead of Apparent Murder-Suicide." "Rush Reveals...
From ACM Opinion
We Rely on the Government For Lots of Data. What Happens to That in the Trump Era of 'alternative Facts'?
During the first 24 hours of the Trump administration, the new White House took a clear, firm stand against publicly available information.
From ACM Opinion
Fake Think Tanks Fuel Fake News, And the President's Tweets
Fake news isn't just Macedonian teenagers or internet trolls.
From ACM Opinion
Curiosity Finds An(other) Alien Visitor on Mars
The Curiosity rover has been on Mars since Aug. 6, 2012.
From ACM Opinion
How to Sit Courtside at a Basketball Game Without Leaving Your Couch
One of the promises that virtual reality offered was that we'd all be able to watch "courtside" sports games without having to leave our couches.
From ACM Opinion
'I Don't Intend to Go Crawl Under a Rock': An Exit Interview with FCC Chairman Tom Wheele
If you're familiar with the comedian John Oliver, then you may also remember the man he once memorably called a "dingo." That's Tom Wheeler, the chairman of the...
From ACM Opinion
Just in Time For Trump, the Nsa Loosens Its Privacy Rules
As the privacy and civil liberty community braces for Donald Trump's impending control of US intelligence agencies like the NSA, critics have called on the Obama...
From ACM Opinion
He Helped Create the 'google Brain.' Here's What He Thinks About AI Now
Trucks that can drive themselves along delivery routes. Computers capable of defeating world champions in a notoriously complex game. Apps that can translate sentences...
From ACM Opinion
My God. It's Full of Black Holes.
The image above doesn’t look like much at a glance, does it?
From ACM Opinion
At Ces 2017, You Have to Ask: What Makes a Robot a Robot?
Tall, small, dancing, singing, cleaning, sassy, silly, cute and scary—CES 2017 was awash with robots.
From ACM Opinion
Darpa's Biotech Chief Says 2017 Will 'blow Our Minds'
The Pentagon's research and development division, DARPA—the creative force behind the internet and GPS—retooled itself three years ago to create a new office dedicated...
From ACM Opinion
10 Ways the Iphone Changed Everything
Ten years ago, Nokia was the world's largest phone maker. Microsoft was gearing up to launch Windows Vista. And the best new products at CES included a wireless...
From ACM Opinion
Bitcoin Will Never Be a Currency; It's Something Way Weirder
The value of bitcoin surged past $1,000 this week, the first time it has reached such heights since late 2013.
From ACM Opinion