Communications of the ACM
An edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Computers Crack the Code of Pop-Song Success: It Helps to Be 'Happy' and 'Female'
University of California, Irvine researchers analyzed the properties of more than 500,000 songs released over three decades to extract the most popular ones.
From ACM TechNews
AI Generates New Doom Levels for Humans to Play
Researchers at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy have found it is possible to have a deep learning algorithm create compelling new game levels in Doom...
From ACM News
House Democrats Release 3,500 Russia-Linked Facebook Ads
On Thursday, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee published more than 3,500 Facebook and Instagram ads linked to the Russian propaganda group Internet...
From ACM News
Facebook Adds A.I. Labs in Seattle and Pittsburgh, Pressuring Local Universities
At a conference in Silicon Valley this week, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, vowed that his company would "keep building" despite a swirl of questions...
From ACM News
Where Countries Are Tinderboxes and Facebook Is a Match
Past the end of a remote mountain road, down a rutted dirt track, in a concrete house that lacked running water but bristled with smartphones, 13 members of an...
From ACM TechNews
Watch a Computer Learn to Play 'Doom' Inside a Dream
Researchers taught a machine to "hallucinate" its idea of the video game "Doom," then got a virtual agent to play its own dream version of the game so it could...
From Communications of the ACM
Chips for Artificial Intelligence
Companies are racing to develop hardware that more directly empowers deep learning.
From Communications of the ACM
Artificial (Emotional) Intelligence
Enabled by advances in computing power and neural networks, machines are getting better at recognizing and dealing with human emotions.
From ACM TechNews
Machine Learning Drives NSynth Super's New Sounds of Music
Google's Project Magenta researchers have developed a machine to serve as an instrument that acts as a physical interface for the NSynth algorithm, which uses a...
From ACM TechNews
For Blind Gamers, Equal Access to Racing Video Games
A Columbia University student has created a new system to help the visually impaired play racing video games.
From ACM TechNews
AI Cheats at Old Atari Games by Finding Unknown Bugs in the Code
A new algorithm plays Atari games and advances within them either by baiting an enemy to kill itself, or by exploiting bugs that allow the algorithm to cheat.
From ACM News
Has Dopamine Got Us Hooked on Tech?
In an unprecedented attack of candour, Sean Parker, the 38-year-old founding president of Facebook, recently admitted that the social network was founded not to...
From Communications of the ACM
In Pursuit of Virtual Life
Scientists are simulating biological organisms and replicating evolution in the lab. How far can they expand the boundaries of virtual life?
From ACM TechNews
Fake News 'Vaccine': Online Game May 'Inoculate' by Simulating Propaganda Tactics
A new online game is designed to provide "general immunity" against fake news and propaganda.
From ACM Careers
How Pixar's Cartoon Cheese Led to a Smarter View of Science
Ten years ago, a chunk of animated cheese in Pixar's "Ratatouille" captured the imagination of cell biologist Janet Iwasa. So much so that it changed the way she...
From ACM TechNews
Drone Light Shows Look Cool, but How Do They Work?
Scientists are exploring multi-robot systems technology.
From Communications of the ACM
Going Serverless
Serverless computing lets businesses and application developers focus on the program they need to run, without worrying about the machine on which it runs, or the...
From ACM TechNews
Trash Talk From an AI Could Help Humans Cooperate Better
Researchers have developed an algorithm to help artificial intelligence and humans learn to cooperate.
From ACM TechNews
'earworm Melodies With Strange Aspects'--What Happens When AI Makes Music
The FlowMachines project has produced the first entire studio album co-created by artists and artificial intelligence.
From ACM TechNews