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
Lessons From the Tesla Crash
A recent fatal crash in Florida involving a Tesla Model S is an example of how a new technology designed to make cars safer could, in some cases, make them more...
From ACM Opinion
Stuxnet the Movie: The .s. Has Pwned Iran
The new documentary about Stuxnet, 'Zero Days,' says the U.S. had a far larger cyber operation against Iran called Nitro Zeus that has compromised the country's...
From ACM Opinion
Why a Killer Robot Was Likely the Only Option For Dallas Police
When a police robot killed suspect Micah Johnson in Dallas early Friday morning, it was likely an unprecedented event.
From ACM Opinion
Validate Personal Air-Pollution Sensors
The public is increasingly aware of the health and economic costs of air pollution.
From ACM Opinion
If To Err Is Human, Should Technology Help s Shed Some Humanity?
By all accounts, technology has made us safer.
From ACM Opinion
Documentary Explores The Cyber-War Secrets Of Stuxnet
Alex Gibney's new documentary, Zero Days, looks at the Stuxnet worm—a cyber weapon developed by the U.S. and Israel.
From ACM Opinion
Waiting For Gödel
In June of 1975, the Office of the White House Press Secretary announced President Gerald R. Ford’s picks for the National Medal of Science. One went to the Austrian...
From ACM Opinion
How the Computer Beat the Go Player
The victory in March of the computer program AlphaGo over one of the world's top handful of go players marks the highest accomplishment to date for the burgeoning...
From ACM Opinion
How Alan Turing Found Machine Thinking in the Human Mind
In 1935, Alan Turing set out to build a reputation by outflanking the world's leading mathematician.
From ACM Opinion
How to Stop Robocalls … or at Least Fight Back
"This is a final notice from the IRS."
From ACM Opinion
Meet the Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You've Ever Seen
Boris Sofman taps his phone, and the robot on the conference room table in front of him wakes up. Not in that gadget-y way, like when a laptop screen turns on,...
From ACM Opinion
How Risky Are the World Economic Forum's Top 10 Emerging Technologies For 2016?
Take an advanced technology. Add a twist of fantasy. Stir well, and watch the action unfold.
From ACM Opinion
Machines that Talk to S May Soon Sense Our Feelings, Too
After great promise in the 1960s that machines would soon think like humans, progress stalled for decades. Only in the past 10 years or so has research picked up...
From ACM Opinion
After Orlando, the Homemade Ar-15 Industry Surges
In the wake of the worst mass shooting in US history, many Americans want to ban civilians from buying the AR-15, that ultra-popular, all-American killing tool.
From ACM Opinion
Self-Driving Cars Could Flip the Auto Insurance Industry on Its Head
As the driverless car gets closer to reality, so too does the dilemma of how to insure the car and its owner.
From ACM Opinion
Bringing Precision to the AI Safety Discussion
We believe that AI technologies are likely to be overwhelmingly useful and beneficial for humanity. But part of being a responsible steward of any new technology...
From ACM Opinion
Here's Your Chance to Decode President Lincoln's Secret Messages
On April 12, 1865—three days after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox and two days before President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated—the president sent...
From ACM Opinion
The Lopsided Geography of Wikipedia
Think about how often, in the course of a week, you visit Wikipedia.
From ACM Opinion
Basic Income: A Sellout of the American Dream
Matt Krisiloff is in a small, glass-walled conference room off the lobby of Y Combinator’s office in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, shouting distance...
From ACM Opinion