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
Will Algorithms Erode Our Decision-Making Skills?
Algorithms are embedded into our technological lives, helping accomplish a variety of tasks like making sure that email makes it to your aunt or that you're matched...
From ACM Opinion
'drone Bees' Are Comically Inept, Expensive and Dangerous to Real Bees
Bees are in decline in many areas.
From ACM Opinion
The AI Threat Isn't Skynet. It's the End of the Middle Class
In February 1975, a group of geneticists gathered in a tiny town on the central coast of California to decide if their work would bring about the end of the world...
From ACM Opinion
Coming Technology Will Likely Destroy Millions of Jobs. Is Trump Ready?
American manufacturing job losses to China and Mexico were a major theme of the presidential campaign, and President Trump has followed up on his promise to pressure...
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
Connected Devices Give Spies a Powerful New Way to Surveil
There is little doubt that the web is the greatest gift that any intelligence agency could have ever asked for.
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