acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


bg-corner

Kevin Kelly on Soft Singularity and Inevitable Tech Advances
From ACM Opinion

Kevin Kelly on Soft Singularity and Inevitable Tech Advances

Kevin Kelly knows technology can't be stopped.

To Beat the Blues, Visits Must Be Real, Not Virtual
From ACM Opinion

To Beat the Blues, Visits Must Be Real, Not Virtual

Imagine being stranded on a desert island with a roof over your head and sufficient provisions—but no human contact other than what you can get from your smartphone...

Elegy For the Capital-I Internet
From ACM Opinion

Elegy For the Capital-I Internet

We've long stopped referring to the Internet as "the information superhighway," but there was a reason for the metaphor.

The Real Reason America Controls Its Nukes with Ancient Floppy Disks
From ACM Opinion

The Real Reason America Controls Its Nukes with Ancient Floppy Disks

America's nuclear arsenal depends on a surprising relic of the 1970s that few of us may recall: the humble floppy disk.

The Woeful Tsa Doesn't Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech
From ACM Opinion

The Woeful Tsa Doesn't Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech

American airport security has never been something to look forward to, but in the past few weeks, it's attained new levels of misery.

Smart Tampon? The Internet of Every Single Thing Must Be Stopped
From ACM Opinion

Smart Tampon? The Internet of Every Single Thing Must Be Stopped

Let's play a game. Which of the following is a real smartphone-connected product?

The Privacy Problem with Digital Assistants
From ACM Opinion

The Privacy Problem with Digital Assistants

For the last century, we've imagined a future where we're surrounded by robotic butlers that are classy, smart, and discreet.

Checklist of Worst-Case Scenarios Could Help Prepare For Evil AI
From ACM Opinion

Checklist of Worst-Case Scenarios Could Help Prepare For Evil AI

Artificial intelligence—what's the worst that can happen? For Roman Yampolskiy, a computer scientist at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, the sky’s the...

Google Doubles Down on AI
From ACM Opinion

Google Doubles Down on AI

Google announced something for everyone yesterday at its 10th annual I/O developer conference.

How Will Virtual Reality Change Our Lives?
From ACM Opinion

How Will Virtual Reality Change Our Lives?

And it's not just gamers who are benefiting from the immersive possibilities it offers.

What If Facebook Gave ­S an Opposing-Viewpoints Button?
From ACM Opinion

What If Facebook Gave ­S an Opposing-Viewpoints Button?

Imagine if you could flip a switch on Facebook, and turn all the conservative viewpoints that you see liberal, or vice versa. You'd realize your news might look...

Peek Into the Weird and Wonderful Age of AI (yes, There's a Chatbot)
From ACM Opinion

Peek Into the Weird and Wonderful Age of AI (yes, There's a Chatbot)

On March 23, Microsoft revealed Tay, a Twitter bot trained to chat like a millennial. It worked … too well.

Doom Is a Gleefully Gory Ballet Set in a Nightmare
From ACM Opinion

Doom Is a Gleefully Gory Ballet Set in a Nightmare

My instinct upon leaping into id Software's hyper-gruesome Doom, a gonzo shooter out May 13 for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, is to dawdle.

The Coming Horror of Virtual Reality
From ACM Opinion

The Coming Horror of Virtual Reality

If Kitchen, a five-minute virtual-reality demo created by the Japanese studio Capcom, were a short film, few viewers would be moved to panic by its misery of horror...

Okcupid Study Reveals the Perils of Big-Data Science
From ACM Opinion

Okcupid Study Reveals the Perils of Big-Data Science

On May 8, a group of Danish researchers publicly released a dataset of nearly 70,000 users of the online dating site OkCupid, including usernames, age, gender,...

IBM Researcher: Fears Over Artificial Intelligence Are 'overblown'
From ACM Opinion

IBM Researcher: Fears Over Artificial Intelligence Are 'overblown'

The debate over artificial intelligence has divided some of Silicon Valley's brightest minds.

After Three Weeks in China, It's Clear Beijing Is Silicon Valley's Only True Competitor
From ACM Opinion

After Three Weeks in China, It's Clear Beijing Is Silicon Valley's Only True Competitor

After selling my startup, Shopkick, to SK Planet in 2014, and handing over my CEO role a year later, I packed up my 1- and 3-year-old sons and my wife Angel, and...

Huawei Prepares For Robot Overlords and Communication with the Dead
From ACM Opinion

Huawei Prepares For Robot Overlords and Communication with the Dead

Chinese technology giant Huawei is preparing for a world where people live forever, dead relatives linger on in computers and robots try to kill humans.

The Seven Deadly Social Networks
From ACM Opinion

The Seven Deadly Social Networks

Almost five years ago, in a soliloquy transcribed by The Wall Street Journal, Reid Hoffman suggested a comprehensive theory of social-network success.

Like It or Not, Facebook Has the Right to Choose Your News
From ACM Opinion

Like It or Not, Facebook Has the Right to Choose Your News

There's an old saying that you shouldn't pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account