Communications of the ACM
From ACM Opinion
The President of Search Giant Baidu Has Global Plans
Google and Facebook are household names around the world. Baidu? Not yet. Ya-Qin Zhang, president of China's leading search business, says Chinese companies can...
From ACM Opinion
For Google, Everything Is a Popularity Contest
When I saw that Google had introduced a "Classic Papers" section of Google Scholar, its search tool for academic journals, I couldn't help but stroke my chin professorially...
From ACM Opinion
Building Privacy Right Into Software code
When I was 15, my parents did not allow me to use AOL Instant Messenger. All of my friends used it, so I had to find a way around this rule.
From ACM Opinion
Before the Internet
Before the Internet, you would just sit in an armchair with a book open on your lap, staring into space or staring at a decorative broom on the wall—kind of shifting...
From ACM Opinion
Minitel, the Open Network Before the Internet
In 1991, most Americans had not yet heard of the internet.
From ACM Opinion
The Optimistic Promise of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence may be one of the technology world's current obsessions, but many people find it scary, envisioning robots taking over the world.
From ACM Opinion
How to Call B.s. on Big Data: A Practical Guide
"Nothing that you will learn in the course of your studies will be of the slightest possible use to you," the Oxford philosophy professor John Alexander Smith told...
From ACM Opinion
Google, Not the Government, Is Building the Future
One persistent criticism of Silicon Valley is that it no longer works on big, world-changing ideas.
From ACM Opinion
Google and Facebook's Idealistic Futures Are Built on Ads
In 2011 a young computer scientist named Jeff Hammerbacher said something profound while explaining why he'd decided to leave Facebook—and the promise of a small...
From ACM Opinion
The Internet of Things Needs a Code of Ethics
In October, when malware called Mirai took over poorly secured webcams and DVRs, and used them to disrupt internet access across the United States, I wondered who...
From ACM Opinion
President Trump's New Order Gives China Tech Opportunity To 'hire American' Too
The same week that President Trump issued his hire American executive order, the president of one of China's top tech companies said his company wants to do the...
From ACM Opinion
How to Build Your Own Moonshot Lab, According to Astro Teller
From balloon-based Internet to self-driving cars, Astro Teller and his team have produced some of the world's most ambitious technology products.
From ACM Opinion
The Inventor of the Web Predicts 'a Massive Outcry' Over Online Privacy
More than two decades ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the thing you're using to read this story right now—the World Wide Web.
From ACM Opinion
What to Expect Now That Internet Providers Can Collect and Sell Your Web Browser History
After Congress handed President Trump legislation Tuesday that would wipe away landmark privacy protections for Internet users, we received a lot of reader questions...
From Communications of the ACM
Learning with Mobile Technologies
Considering the challenges, commitments, and quandaries.
From ACM Opinion
Will Algorithms Erode Our Decision-Making Skills?
Algorithms are embedded into our technological lives, helping accomplish a variety of tasks like making sure that email makes it to your aunt or that you're matched...
From ACM Opinion
What If the Internet Stopped Working For a Day?
Jeff Hancock likes to give his Stanford University students weekend assignments that let them experience concepts discussed in class for themselves.
From ACM Opinion
5 Big Predictions For Artificial Intelligence in 2017
Last year was huge for advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning. But 2017 may well deliver even more.
From ACM Opinion