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What Is Consciousness?
From ACM Opinion

What Is Consciousness?

Consciousness is everything you experience.

Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore
From ACM Opinion

Why No One Answers Their Phone Anymore

The telephone swept into Americans' lives in the first decades of the 20th century.

How Wired Lost $100,000 in Bitcoin
From ACM Opinion

How Wired Lost $100,000 in Bitcoin

Back in 2013, when you could still mine bitcoins at home, Wired was sent a small, sleek mining device manufactured by the now-defunct Butterfly Labs.

The G.D.P.R., Europe's New Privacy Law, and the Future of the Global Data Economy
From ACM Opinion

The G.D.P.R., Europe's New Privacy Law, and the Future of the Global Data Economy

They're curious messengers, these ants in your in-box.

Europe's New Data Protections Will Affect You Too. Here's How.
From ACM Opinion

Europe's New Data Protections Will Affect You Too. Here's How.

Starting tomorrow, a new framework for consumer data protection goes into effect in Europe.

Getting a Flood of G.D.P.R.-Related Privacy Policy ­pdates? Read Them.
From ACM Opinion

Getting a Flood of G.D.P.R.-Related Privacy Policy ­pdates? Read Them.

You have probably noticed a flood of emails and alerts from companies in the past few weeks informing you about changes to their privacy policies.

Silicon Valley Must Consider Tech Ethics, DeepMind Chief Says
From ACM Opinion

Silicon Valley Must Consider Tech Ethics, DeepMind Chief Says

Big technology companies must rethink the way they develop products and services to put ethical considerations in the forefront, DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman...

What Are These 'Levels' of Autonomous Vehicles?
From ACM Opinion

What Are These 'Levels' of Autonomous Vehicles?

As automated and autonomous vehicles become more common on U.S. roads, it's worth a look at what these machines can—and can't—do.

Automated Health Care Offers Freedom from Shame, But Is It What Patients Need?
From ACM Opinion

Automated Health Care Offers Freedom from Shame, But Is It What Patients Need?

A few years ago, Timothy Bickmore, a computer scientist at Northeastern University, developed an artificial-intelligence program to help low-income patients at...

To Build Truly Intelligent Machines, Teach Them Cause and Effect
From ACM Opinion

To Build Truly Intelligent Machines, Teach Them Cause and Effect

Artificial intelligence owes a lot of its smarts to Judea Pearl.

So, ­mm, Google Duplex's Chatter Is Not Quite Human
From ACM Opinion

So, ­mm, Google Duplex's Chatter Is Not Quite Human

Google's Duplex voice assistant drew applause last week at the company's annual I/O developer conference after CEO Sundar Pichai demonstrated the artificially intelligent...

Apple and Its Rivals Bet Their Futures on These Men's Dreams
From ACM News

Apple and Its Rivals Bet Their Futures on These Men's Dreams

Over the past five years, artificial intelligence has gone from perennial vaporware to one of the technology industry's brightest hopes.

I Tried to Get an AI to Write This Story
From ACM Opinion

I Tried to Get an AI to Write This Story

What a time for artificial intelligence!

Europe's Data Protection Law Is a Big, Confusing Mess
From ACM Opinion

Europe's Data Protection Law Is a Big, Confusing Mess

There is a growing realization that our data is under attack.

How the Enlightenment Ends
From ACM Opinion

How the Enlightenment Ends

Three years ago, at a conference on transatlantic issues, the subject of artificial intelligence appeared on the agenda. I was on the verge of skipping that session—it...

How Fortnite Captured Teens' Hearts and Minds
From ACM Opinion

How Fortnite Captured Teens' Hearts and Minds

It was getting late in Tomato Town. The storm was closing in, and meteors pelted the ground.

The Data Scientist Helping to Create Ethical Robots
From ACM Opinion

The Data Scientist Helping to Create Ethical Robots

As the lead statistician at the nonprofit Human Rights Data Analysis Group, Kristian Lum, 33, is trying to make sure the algorithms increasingly controlling our...

The Singularity Is Not Near: The Intellectual Fraud of the 'Singularitarians'
From ACM Opinion

The Singularity Is Not Near: The Intellectual Fraud of the 'Singularitarians'

Technology was identified as the true official religion of the modern state more than seventy years ago by the late Christian anarchist philosopher Jacques Ellul...

Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works, And Creepier When It Doesn't
From ACM Opinion

Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works, And Creepier When It Doesn't

For the last few years, police forces around China have invested heavily to build the world's largest video surveillance and facial recognition system, incorporating...

Free Will, Video Games, and the Most Profound Quantum Mystery
From ACM Opinion

Free Will, Video Games, and the Most Profound Quantum Mystery

The word "predictable" first entered the English language two centuries ago.
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