Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
March 2019
From ACM Opinion
Facebook and Google Aren't the Only Ones Tracking Your Clicks
Criticism of big tech companies that track us across the internet without our informed consent misses a bigger picture: There are hundreds of ad-tracking companies that do the same, and regulators have been powerless to rein …
From ACM Opinion
The Uncanny Valley Nobody's Talking About: Eerie Robot Voices
Call it the Great Convergence of Creepiness. The first bit, the uncanny valley, we're all familiar with by now: If a humanoid robot looks super realistic, but not quite realistic enough, it freaks us out.
From ACM Opinion
How 2D Semiconductors Could Extend Moore's Law
The number of components in electronic circuits has doubled every two years since the 1960s—a trend known as Moore's law.
From ACM Opinion
No, Scientists Didn't Just 'Reverse Time' with a Quantum Computer
From ACM Opinion
The FAA Rigorously Tested the Boeing 737's Software
Two Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes have crashed under similar circumstances in the past six months, one in October in Indonesia and the other in Ethiopia last week.
From ACM Opinion
A Second 737 Max Crash Raises Questions about Airplane Automation
As you read this, over a million people are in flight. Close to a third of the commercial airplanes in the sky at any given moment are Boeing 737s: it is the best-selling jetliner in history.
From ACM Opinion
Berners-Lee Says World Wide Web, at 30, Must Emerge from 'Adolescence'
The fraying World Wide Web needs to rediscover its strengths and grow into maturity, its designer Tim Berners-Lee said on Monday, marking the 30th anniversary of the collaborative software project his supervisor initially dubbed…
From ACM Opinion
FBI Head Christopher Wray: We Can't Let Criminals Hide Behind Encryption
Encryption should have limits. That's the message FBI Director Christopher Wray had for cybersecurity experts Tuesday.
From ACM Opinion
NSA's Top Policy Advisor: It's Time to Start Putting Teeth in Cyber Deterrence
At an industry event in Hanover, Maryland last week, former National Security Council cybersecurity policy coordinator and acting Homeland Security Advisor Rob Joyce—now back at the National Security Agency as senior advisor …
From ACM Opinion
Limiting Your Digital Footprints in a Surveillance State
What are your most important tech tools for reporting in Shanghai, especially with a government known for surveillance?
From ACM Opinion
Are We Really the Smartest Kid on the Cosmic Block?
It is unclear how many intelligent civilizations have arisen in the Milky Way galaxy so far, but if some have, a pressing question comes to mind: Were they or are they more intelligent than we are?
From ACM Opinion
'The Risk Paid Off': How Apple Prevailed in the U.S.-China Trade War
President Donald Trump's trade war with China has left a trail of economic wreckage across American industries from soybean farms to auto manufacturers.
From ACM News
China Is Catching Up to the US on Artificial Intelligence Research
Researchers, companies and countries around the world are racing to explore—and exploit—the possibilities of artificial intelligence technology.
From ACM Opinion
Don't Let Robots Pull the Trigger
The killer machines are coming. Robotic weapons that target and destroy without human supervision are poised to start a revolution in warfare comparable to the invention of gunpowder or the atomic bomb.
From ACM Opinion
Beware of Plausible Predictions of Fantasy Materials
The hunt is on for materials that have exotic properties, to enhance quantum computers, touch screens and electronic displays, and to double the efficiency of solar cells, for example.
From Communications of the ACM
Questioning a New Intellectual Property Right for Press Publishers
Considering the implications of the "link tax" provision of the proposed EU Directive for the Digital Single Market for traditional press publishers.
From Communications of the ACM
Potential 'Dark Sides' of Leisure Technology Use in Youth
Time for balanced reflections on technology.
From Communications of the ACM
An Interview with William Hugh Murray
A discussion of the rapidly evolving realm of practical cyber security.
From Communications of the ACM
It's About Power
A call to rethink ethics and equity in computing education.
From Communications of the ACM
From Computational Thinking to Computational Action
Envisioning computing education that both teaches and empowers.
In (Virtual) Defense of Democracy
03.19.2019There are two ways to proceed with political discourse in cyberspace, if the trolls are to be tamed.
Calculating With Roman Numerals is Not So Difficult
03.18.2019How to deal with Roman numerals and without a sign for zero in an additive number system, if no hand …
Computer Science Was Invented to Teach Everyone About Everything
03.17.2019Our goal should not be Computational Thinking, but Science, Mathematics, History, Engineering, and *Everything* Thinking.
Soft Robots Look to New Environments
04.01.2019These non-standard automatons appear best suited for applications under water …
The Future of Data Storage
03.20.2019Research into next-generation storage techniques marches forward, yet tape remains …
The Fine Line Between Coercion and Care
04.01.2019Employers monitoring their workforce must balance productivity and security considerations …