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We Know You Hate the Internet of Things, but It's Saving Megafauna from Poachers
From ACM Opinion

We Know You Hate the Internet of Things, but It's Saving Megafauna from Poachers

For much of this decade, organizations seeking to protect wildlife have attempted to use emerging technology as a conservation tool, allowing small numbers of people...

The Importance of Teaching Robots to Hug
From ACM Opinion

The Importance of Teaching Robots to Hug

Hugs make us feel warm and safe and comforted and loved.

The Researchers Who Study Alien Linguistics
From ACM Opinion

The Researchers Who Study Alien Linguistics

Sheri Wells-Jensen is fascinated by languages no one has ever heard—those that might be spoken by aliens.

Trump's Lack of Cyber Leader May Make ­.S. Vulnerable
From ACM Opinion

Trump's Lack of Cyber Leader May Make ­.S. Vulnerable

The absence of senior cybersecurity leaders in President Donald Trump's administration may be leaving the United States more vulnerable to digital warfare and less...

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Screen Time Controls, Working with China
From ACM Opinion

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Screen Time Controls, Working with China

Tim Cook, who has led Apple since 2011, spoke with NPR's Steve Inskeep in a wide-ranging interview on Monday as the company kicked off its annual Worldwide Developers...

What Is Consciousness?
From ACM Opinion

What Is Consciousness?

Consciousness is everything you experience.

The 'Golden Age of Electronic Surveillance' Is Ending, Says Former NSA and CIA Chief Michael Hayden 
From ACM Opinion

The 'Golden Age of Electronic Surveillance' Is Ending, Says Former NSA and CIA Chief Michael Hayden 

At America's intelligence agencies, there are three ways to "steal secrets," says former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden: Humans, signals and imagery.

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 Close Are We, Really, to Building a Quantum Computer?
From ACM Opinion

How Close Are We, Really, to Building a Quantum Computer?

The race is on to build the world's first meaningful quantum computer—one that can deliver the technology's long-promised ability to help scientists do things like...

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.

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...

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...

How Tech Can Turn Doctors Into Clerical Workers
From ACM Opinion

How Tech Can Turn Doctors Into Clerical Workers

There are times when the diagnosis announces itself as the patient walks in, because the body is, among other things, a text.

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!

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 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...

The Next Big Discovery in Astronomy? Scientists Probably Found It Years Ago, But They Don't Know It Yet
From ACM Opinion

The Next Big Discovery in Astronomy? Scientists Probably Found It Years Ago, But They Don't Know It Yet

Earlier this year, astronomers stumbled upon a fascinating finding: Thousands of black holes likely exist near the center of our galaxy.

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...
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