Moshe Y. Vardi – Page 9 – Communications of the ACM

Opinion Jul 1 2012

In a typical business, you have two parties: sellers and buyers. In scholarly publishing you also have sellers and buyers, these are the publishers and the research libraries. However, you have two additional parties. On one side, authors. On the other, editors and reviewers.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Communications Editor-in-Chief Moshe Y. Vardi

Opinion May 1 2012

Fair Access

Now that the sound and fury in the Open Access movement has quieted down a bit, we can revisit the arguments for open access. The basic question I would like to address is what ACM's stance should be with respect to open-access publishing models.

Computing Applications

Opinion Mar 1 2012

What Is an Algorithm?

The 14th International Congress of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, held last July, included a special symposium on the subject of "What is an algorithm?" This may seem to be a strange question to ask just before the Turing Centenary Year. Didn't Turing answer this question decisively?

Computing Profession

Opinion Jan 1 2012

Artificial Intelligence: Past and Future

The most dramatic chess match of the 20th century was the May 1997 rematch between the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue and world champion Garry Kasparov, which Deep Blue won. While this victory was considered by many a triumph for artificial intelligence, John McCarthy, who coined the very name of the field, was rather dismissive of this accomplishment.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Opinion Dec 1 2011

Computing For Humans

Leibniz conceived of a universal mathematical language in which all human knowledge can be expressed, and calculational rules carried out by machines to derive all logical relationships. His definition of computing captures, I believe, the essence of our field.

Computing Applications

Opinion Nov 1 2011

Is Moore’s Party Over?

For almost 50 years we have been riding Moore's Law's exponential curve. Oh, what a ride it has been! No other technology has ever improved at a geometric rate for decades. But exponential trends always slow down, and the end of "Moore's Party" may be near.

Architecture and Hardware

Communications of the ACM Editor-in-Chief Moshe Vardi

Opinion Sep 1 2011

Are You Talking to Me?

I recently attended a rather theoretical computer-science conference, and sat, as is my habit, in the front row. The speaker was trying to convey the fine details of a rather intricate mathematical construction. I was hopelessly lost.

Computing Applications

Opinion Jul 1 2011

Solving the Unsolvable

On June 16, 1902, philosopher Bertrand Russell sent a letter to Gottlob Frege in which he argued that Frege's logical system was inconsistent. The letter launched a "Foundational Crisis" in mathematics, triggering an almost anguished search for proper foundations for mathematics.

Computing Applications

Opinion May 1 2011

Technology Has Social Consequences

A conference paper submission constitutes privileged communication. In theory, reviewers should immediately "forget" what they have read. How could a program committee member not know the fundamental rules of scholarly reviewing?

Computing Applications

Opinion Mar 1 2011

Fumbling the Future

Fumbling the Future: How Xerox Invented, Then Ignored, the First Personal Computer tells the gripping story of how Xerox invented the personal-computing technology in the 1970s, and then "miscalculated and mishandled" the opportunity to fully exploit it.

Computing Applications

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