Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2021
From ACM Opinion
Intel's Melvin Greer: AI, Data Science a Growth Pillar
Melvin Greer, chief data scientist for the Americas, Intel Corp., discusses the importance of nontechnical skills and cross-domain expertise, ethical AI, and AI as "augmented intelligence."
From ACM Opinion
Turing Awardee Jeffrey Ullman on How He Got Involved with Computer Science
Jeffrey Ullman, co-recipient of the 2020 ACM A.M. Turing Award, discusses the imposter syndrome, running a Burroughs 5500, and using applications to address social problems.
From ACM Opinion
The Healing Power of Javascript
For some, code is therapy, an escape and a path to hope in a troubled world.
From ACM Opinion
A Computer Scientist Who Tackles Inequality Through Algorithms
Rediet Abebe uses the tools of theoretical computer science to understand pressing social problems — and try to fix them.
From Communications of the ACM
From Remote Work to Working From Anywhere
Tracing temporary work modifications resulting in permanent organizational changes.
From Communications of the ACM
Reflections on Black in Computing
Seeking to improve systemic fairness in the computing realm.
From Communications of the ACM
The Non-Psychopath's Guide to Managing an Open Source Project
Respect your staff, learn from others, and know when to let go.
From Communications of the ACM
When Hackers Were Heroes
The complex legacy of Steven Levy's obsessive programmers.
From Communications of the ACM
Roots of 'Program' Revisited
Considering the fundamental nature and malleability of programming.
From Communications of the ACM
Building a Multilingual Wikipedia
Seeking to develop a multilingual Wikipedia where content can be shared among language editions.
Understanding NoSQL Database Types: Graph Databases
04.09.2021SQL represents data stored in rows and tables, while high-growth NoSQL is data stores arranged via nested documents as columnar …
The World's Most Magnificent Historical Calculating Machines
04.08.2021The design of today's electronic computers is usually not very appealing, in contrast to magnificent mechanical calculating machines from earlier …
Misnomer and Malgorithm
03.27.2021The algorithm should be respected; the malgorithm should be rejected.
Robots Can Be More Aware of Human Co-Workers, with System That Provides Context
04.12.2021Researchers have designed a context-aware system that could enable robots …
AI Could 'Crack the Language of Cancer, Alzheimer's'
04.12.2021A study has found that the "biological language" of cancer …
Bitcoin Mining Emissions in China Will Hit 130 Million Tons by 2024
04.12.2021Researchers at China's Tsinghua University predicted Chinese bitcoin mining will …