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The Dark Side of the Coming Chatbot Revolution
From ACM Opinion

The Dark Side of the Coming Chatbot Revolution

Artificial intelligence is coming to a messaging app near you.

The Cybersecurity Argument For and Against Device Encryption
From ACM Opinion

The Cybersecurity Argument For and Against Device Encryption

Government officials argue that encrypted communication poses national security risks. But tech companies say that making it possible to unlock devices would make...

Genome-Editing Revolution: My Whirlwind Year with Crispr
From ACM Opinion

Genome-Editing Revolution: My Whirlwind Year with Crispr

Some 20 months ago, I started having trouble sleeping.

How the Internet of Things Limits Consumer Choice
From ACM Opinion

How the Internet of Things Limits Consumer Choice

In theory, the Internet of Things—the connected network of tiny computers inside home appliances, household objects, even clothing—promises to make your life easier...

Why Knowledge Representation Matters
From Communications of the ACM

Why Knowledge Representation Matters

A personal story: From philosophy to software.

Unbalanced Data Leads to Obsolete Economic Advice
From Communications of the ACM

Unbalanced Data Leads to Obsolete Economic Advice

Few computer scientists and technological workers worry about their role in the economies of their industries and their countries. Background supplementary material...

Where Code Comes From
From Communications of the ACM

Where Code Comes From: Architectures of Automatic Control from Babbage to Algol

Considering the evolving concept of programming.

The Chaos Machine
From Communications of the ACM

The Chaos Machine

Complexity, predictability, and modern projects.

Extrapolating from Moore's Law
From Communications of the ACM

Extrapolating from Moore's Law

Behind and beyond Microsoft, Intel, and Apple.

Biometric Identity
From Communications of the ACM

Biometric Identity

Assessing the promises and dangers of biometric identity plans.

The Death of American Research and Development
From ACM Opinion

The Death of American Research and Development

When rumors began to fly about a merger between chemical giants Dow Chemical  and DuPont , it was obvious the deal was not your ordinary fee-driven scheme dreamed...

A Pause to Weigh Risks of Gene Editing
From ACM Opinion

A Pause to Weigh Risks of Gene Editing

The technology for altering defects in the human genome has progressed so rapidly in the last three years that it has outstripped the ability of scientists and...

5 Amazing and Alarming Things That May Be Done with Your Dna
From ACM Opinion

5 Amazing and Alarming Things That May Be Done with Your Dna

"You're a male, you're 34-years-old and your 5-foot-10 1/2 inches tall." That's a prediction that Craig Venter, long a pioneer on the frontier of genomics, offered...

What the Government Should've Learned About Backdoors from the Clipper Chip
From ACM Opinion

What the Government Should've Learned About Backdoors from the Clipper Chip

In the face of a Federal Bureau of Investigation proposal requesting backdoors into encrypted communications, a noted encryption expert urged Congress not to adopt...

Let's Outlaw Math
From ACM Opinion

Let's Outlaw Math

In the name of protecting us against terrorists, law enforcement agencies want high tech companies to relinquish their Golden Keys, backdoors to their otherwise...

Why Yahoo Faded: The Internet Changed, But It Didn't
From ACM Opinion

Why Yahoo Faded: The Internet Changed, But It Didn't

Yahoo and I go way back.

A Conversation with Crispr-Cas9 Inventors Charpentier and Doudna
From ACM Opinion

A Conversation with Crispr-Cas9 Inventors Charpentier and Doudna

At the American Society of Human Genetics meeting in October, CRISPR-Cas9 inventors Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier accepted the Gruber Genetics Prize...

Eric Schmidt on How to Build a Better Web
From ACM Opinion

Eric Schmidt on How to Build a Better Web

Turning Point: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declares a war on Twitter.

Dark Clouds Over the Internet
From ACM Opinion

Dark Clouds Over the Internet

The Internet is routinely described as borderless, and that is often how it feels.

Crispr Is Getting Better. Now It's Time to Ask the Hard Ethical Questions
From ACM Opinion

Crispr Is Getting Better. Now It's Time to Ask the Hard Ethical Questions

When Chinese scientists announced in April they had edited human embryos using a new genetic tool called Crispr, the headlines blared "designer babies," and the...
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