Communications of the ACM
The opinion archive provides access to past opinion stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
August 2018
From ACM Opinion
Who Needs Democracy When You Have Data?
In 1955, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov published a short story about an experiment in "electronic democracy," in which a single citizen, selected to represent an entire population, responded to questions generated by a …
From ACM Opinion
A Bold Mission to Touch the Sun
On Sunday, August 12, NASA launched a bold mission to fly directly into the sun's atmosphere, with a spacecraft named the Parker Solar Probe, after solar astrophysicist Eugene Parker.
From ACM Opinion
Billion-Dollar Telescopes Could End Up Beyond the Reach of US Astronomers
Every ten years, US astronomers set research priorities for the following decade.
From ACM Opinion
The Future of Television Is … More Television
Call it Jeffrey Katzenberg's unicorn newborn. An operating company has come into being, ex nihilo, with the blandest of names—NewTV—and a valuation north of $1 billion.
From ACM Opinion
Are Blockchains the Answer for Secure Elections? Probably Not
With the U.S. heading into a pivotal midterm election, little progress has been made on ensuring the integrity of voting systems—a concern that retook the spotlight when the 2016 presidential election ushered Donald Trump into…
From ACM Opinion
What Are Rare Earths, Crucial Elements in Modern Technology? 4 Questions Answered
Most Americans use rare earth elements every day—without knowing it, or knowing anything about what they do. That could change, as these unusual materials are becoming a focal point in the escalating trade war between the U.S…
From ACM Opinion
Honoring the '80s, Def Con's Badge Is also a Text Adventure
Nearly 30,000 people came to Las Vegas last week for the 26th edition of DEF CON, the iconic security conference. And no small amount of the mental energy of that vast crowd was spent on one particular thing: the conference badge…
From ACM Opinion
Hackers Are Out to Jeopardize Your Vote
Russian hackers targeted US electoral systems during the 2016 presidential election.
From ACM Opinion
To Win the AI Race, We Need More Humans
The United States is trying to develop a national strategy on artificial intelligence (AI) but is ignoring its single greatest advantage: many of the world's brightest minds would like to live and work here but can't.
From ACM Opinion
Why AI Researchers Shouldn't Turn Their Backs on the Military
More than 2,400 AI researchers recently signed a pledge promising not to build so-called autonomous weapons—systems that would decide on their own whom to kill.
From ACM Opinion
We Are Merging With Robots. That's a Good Thing.
Here are some things that are true today:
From ACM Opinion
Google Tracks You Even If Location History's Off. Here's How to Stop It
If, like most people, you thought Google stopped tracking your location once you turned off Location History in your account settings, you were wrong.
From ACM Opinion
How Your Brain Tricks You Into Believing Fake News
Sitting in front of a computer not long ago, a tenured history professor faced a challenge that billions of us do every day: deciding whether to believe something on the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
AI for Cybersecurity Is a Hot New Thing, and a Dangerous Gamble
When I walked around the exhibition floor at this week's massive Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, I was struck by the number of companies boasting about how they are using machine learning and artificial intelligence…
From ACM Opinion
There Will Never Be an Age of Artificial Intimacy
Years ago I spoke with a 16-year-old girl who was considering the idea of having a computer companion in the future, and she described the upside to me.
From ACM Opinion
Google's China Plan Isn't Just Evil, It's Bad for Business
Google is proposing a new Faustian bargain with the Chinese government that isn't just morally wrong; it's also terrible for business. Experience has shown that American tech companies that sell their souls for access to the …
From ACM Opinion
What America Must Do to Remain the World's High-Tech Leader
Artificial intelligence (AI) often is erroneously identified as an emerging technology.
From ACM Opinion
Programmers Need Ethics When Designing the Technologies that Influence People's Lives
Computing professionals are on the front lines of almost every aspect of the modern world.
From ACM Opinion
Why Apple Is the Future of Capitalism
With Apple Inc. now exceeding $1 trillion in market capitalization, it's tempting to understand this moment in terms of the dominance of all-too-large companies and technology in our lives.
From ACM Opinion
Google's Duplex AI Scares Some People, but I Can't Wait for It to Become a Thing
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic," Arthur C. Clarke famously wrote. That line must have zoomed through 5,000 audience brains when, at Google's developer conference in May, CEO Sundar Pichai…
From ACM Opinion
Brains Keep Temporary Molecular Records Before Making a Lasting Memory
The first dance at my wedding lasted exactly four minutes and 52 seconds, but I'll probably remember it for decades.
From ACM Opinion
3D-Printed (and CNC-Milled) Guns: Nine Questions You Were Too Afraid to Ask
By now, you've probably seen all the news regarding Defense Distributed, company founder Cody Wilson, and 3D-printed guns.
From ACM Opinion
Online Hate Is Rampant. Here's How to Keep It From Spreading
Back in the last presidential campaign season, reporters on the tech and politics beats began noticing a rise in far-right memes that supported Trump. Memes being memes, these seemed initially like weird, off-color jokes.
From ACM Opinion
Startup JITX Uses AI to Automate Complex Circuit Board Design
While anyone can learn how to design a circuit board, it takes a skilled engineer to design a circuit board that is both well optimized and unlikely to melt, explode, or cause whatever it's controlling to melt or explode.
From ACM Opinion
Mars Is Frigid, Rusty and Haunted. We Can’t Stop Looking at It.
There it was: Glowering red on the dashboard of the sky like an astrological warning light next to the full Blood Moon Friday. Mars.
From ACM Opinion
China's Numbers Force Google to Recalculate Its Morals
In 2010, Google made a moral calculus. The company had been censoring search results in China at the behest of the Communist government since launching there in 2006.
From ACM Opinion
As Moore's Law Dies, the Chip Giants Seek Fresh Prey
After a five-year, $240 billion acquisition spree, there's a suspicion that the nature of deal-making in the semiconductor industry may be starting to change.
From Communications of the ACM
Designing Sustainable Rural Infrastructure Through the Lens of OpenCellular
Understanding the unique local context, as well as technical considerations, are essential components of successful project deployment.
From Communications of the ACM
Providing Equitable Access to Computing Education
Seeking the best measures to reach advantaged and less-advantaged students equally.
From Communications of the ACM
Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud
Cache is king. And if your cache is cut, you are going to feel it.
Irrational Exuberance and the 'FATE' of Technology
08.20.2018Questions of verification, safety, and trust must be central when we embody intelligence in physical systems.
First-Class Philosophical Failure
07.30.2018Interrogation of "first-class object" as an analog to human life goes nowhere.
Moving Computing Education Past Argument from Authority: Stuart Reges and Women Who Code
07.30.2018Computing educators often make decisions based on arguments from authority. Time to move on.
'Weaponized Ad Technology': Facebook's Moneymaker Gets a Critical Eye
08.21.2018Facebook has made a mint by enabling advertisers to identify …
This Military Tech Could Finally Help Self-Driving Cars Master Snow
08.21.2018The research conducted at the country's National Laboratories is usually …
Low Bandwidth? Use More Colors at Once
08.21.2018A team of researchers has simplified the manufacturing process enabling …