Communications of the ACM
U.S.-Built Databases Potential Tool of Taliban Repression
Experts fear the Taliban could exploit expansive databases built by the U.S. and its allies during the Afghanistan occupation… From ACM TechNewsAn edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
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Computers Can't Cut Red Tape
Modernizing government technology can be helpful during a crisis. To a point.
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For Quick Coronavirus Testing, Israel Turns to a Clever Algorithm
Inspired by a mother's question, the new method will be introduced across Israel this fall, just in time for flu season, and could be coming soon to the U.S.
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For Robots, It’s a Time to Shine (and Maybe Disinfect)
The pandemic has turned cleaning and other mundane building tasks into a challenge, stoking interest in machines as cost-effective solutions.
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This Tool Could Protect Your Photos From Facial Recognition
Researchers at the University of Chicago want you to be able to post selfies without worrying that the next Clearview AI will use them to identify you.
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Can an Algorithm Predict the Pandemic’s Next Moves?
Researchers have developed a model that uses social-media and search data to forecast outbreaks of Covid-19 well before they occur.
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Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm
In what may be the first known case of its kind, a faulty facial recognition match led to a Michigan man's arrest for a crime he did not commit.
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Riding Out Quarantine With a Chatbot Friend: ‘I Feel Very Connected’
The digital companions may sound like science fiction. But when social isolation became the norm, they helped deal with the loneliness, some users say.
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How Automated Background Checks Freeze Out Renters
Algorithms that scan everything from terror watch lists to eviction records spit out flawed tenant screening reports. And almost nobody is watching.
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This Was Supposed to Be the Year Driverless Cars Went Mainstream
The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted technology companies' plans to bring autonomous vehicles into the mainstream this year.
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How A.I. Steered Doctors Toward a Possible Coronavirus Treatment
Specialists at the London start-up BenevolentAI helped identify the arthritis drug baricitinib, which is now part of a clinical trial.
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An ESPN Commercial Hints at Advertising's Deepfake Future
With the pandemic having shut down production, companies are asking ad agencies to create commercials made up of digitally altered footage.
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Australia's Fire Season Ends, Researchers Look to the Next One
The effectiveness of many technologies being developed to cope with wildfires in Australia hinges on the ability to predict how fuel types like eucalyptus trees...
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Will ‘Big Data’ Restore Active Managers’ Mojo?
Sophisticated tech used to gather and analyze information may be able to improve returns, but the data isn't showing it.
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Can't Scout Players in Person? The NFL Turns to Brooklyn Startup
The National Football League is using a startup's artificial intelligence technology to remotely scout prospective players during the coronavirus restrictions. ...
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Toward Computers That Teach Themselves
The artificial intelligence industry is experiencing a supervised learning revolution, as researchers teach computers to recognize patterns and learn from them....
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AI Helping Scientists Understand an Ocean's Worth of Data
Researchers have trained a neural network to distinguish humpback whale songs from other ocean noise.
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You Can’t Spell Creative Without A.I.
Advances in software applications that process human language lie at the heart of the debate over whether computer technologies will enhance or even substitute...
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Computers Already Learn From Us. But Can They Teach Themselves?
Scientists are exploring approaches that would help machines develop their own sort of common sense.
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There Is a Racial Divide in Speech Recognition Systems, Researchers Say
Technology from Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM, and Microsoft misidentified 35% of words from people who were black. White people fared much better.
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