Communications of the ACM
A Plea for AI That Serves Humanity Instead of Replacing It
Sixty-two years ago this summer, Dartmouth professor John McCarthy coined the term artificial intelligence. Joi Ito, director…
From ACM Opinion
How Neal Stephenson Got Book Ideas by Moonlighting at Blue Origin
Neal Stephenson's breakout hit, Snow Crash, envisioned a world of virtual reality—in 1992. The Diamond Age foresaw the future of nanotechnology in 1995. The more...
From ACM Opinion
Misinformation and Biases Infect Social Media, Both Intentionally and Accidentally
Social media are among the primary sources of news in the U.S. and across the world.
From ACM Opinion
Autonomous Vehicles Might Drive Cities to Financial Ruin
In Ann Arbor, Michigan, last week, 125 mostly white, mostly male, business-card-bearing attendees crowded into a brightly lit ballroom to consider "mobility."
From ACM Opinion
Relax, Google, the Robot Army Isn't Here Yet
People can differ on their perceptions of "evil."
From ACM Opinion
The Erosion of Reality
Let me say this upfront: I'm not convinced that 'superintelligent' AI are the most pressing threat from coming generations of deep learning machines.
From ACM Opinion
The Inside Story of How AI Got Good Enough to Dominate Silicon Valley
Alex Krizhevsky didn't get into the AI business to change the course of history.
From ACM Opinion
Self-Driving Cars Likely Won't Steal Your Job (Until 2040)
The self-driving robots are coming to transform your job. Kind of. Also, very slowly.
From ACM Opinion
Connected Cars Can Lie, Posing a New Threat to Smart Cities
The day when cars can talk to each other—and to traffic lights, stop signs, guardrails and even pavement markings—is rapidly approaching.
From ACM Opinion
Jurassic World: Can We Really Resurrect a Dinosaur?
This summer, the fifth instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise will be on the big screen, reinforcing a love of dinosaurs that has been with many of us since...
From ACM Opinion
The Many Shades of Bad Physics
What happens when you see bad physics in the world? Does it make you angry? Does it make you laugh?
From ACM Opinion
How We're Using Darwin's Theory of Evolution to Build Robots that Can Adapt and Learn on Their Own
The uptake of robotics technology is increasing at a startling rate.
From ACM Opinion
The Importance of Teaching Robots to Hug
Hugs make us feel warm and safe and comforted and loved.
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.
From ACM Opinion
The Responsibility of Immortality: Welcome to the New Transhumanism
In the summer of 1990, I was running a pretty weird nightclub in the Roppongi neighborhood of Tokyo.
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...
From ACM Opinion