Communications of the ACM
The Turing Test Is Obsolete. It's Time to Build a New Barometer for AI
The goal put forth by the Turing Test is not a useful one for AI scientists. It is time to set a new challenge that inspires …
From ACM Opinion
Image Doctoring Must Be Halted
Seven years ago, a cover of The Economist showed Barack Obama, head down on a Louisiana beach in front of an oil rig—the picture of lonely despair.
From ACM Opinion
Medical Microbots Need Better Imaging and Control
More than 50 years ago, physicist Richard Feynman spoke of "swallowing the surgeon" in his classic lecture, 'There's plenty of room at the bottom'.
From ACM Opinion
Artificial Intelligence: Chess Match of the Century
Nearly 20 years ago, I was fortunate enough to play friendly blitz chess against former world champion Garry Kasparov.
From ACM Opinion
Quantum Computers Ready to Leap Out of the Lab in 2017
Quantum computing has long seemed like one of those technologies that are 20 years away, and always will be.
From ACM Opinion
Good Data Are Not Enough
This summer, I visited the Mayan city of Chichén Itzá in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.
From ACM Opinion
Why Scientists Must Share Their Research Code
Many scientists worry over the reproducibility of wet-lab experiments, but data scientist Victoria Stodden's focus is on how to validate computational research:...
From ACM Opinion
The Science That Fed Frankenstein
In 1816, a teenager began to compose what many view as the first true work of science fiction—and unleashed one of the most subversive attacks on modern science...
From ACM Opinion
Validate Personal Air-Pollution Sensors
The public is increasingly aware of the health and economic costs of air pollution.
From ACM Opinion
nite to Build a Quantum Internet
Almost 25 years ago, physicists discovered a way of 'teleporting' a quantum system from one place to another without moving it.
From ACM Opinion
se or Lose Our Navigation Skills
In 1984, I was part of a team that was developing a receiver for a satellite-navigation system. After weeks of debugging, the blur of random digits settled on a...
From ACM Opinion
Digital Intuition
Napoleon had it and so did Charles Darwin. Tennis champion Roger Federer has it in spades. The dictionary defines intuition as knowledge obtained without conscious...
From ACM Opinion
Genome-Editing Revolution: My Whirlwind Year with Crispr
Some 20 months ago, I started having trouble sleeping.
From ACM Opinion
The Science to Look Out For in 2016
A Swiss company is set to become the first firm to capture carbon dioxide from the air and sell it on a commercial scale, a stepping stone to larger facilities...
From ACM Opinion
Modelling: Build Imprecise Supercomputers
Today's supercomputers lack the power to model accurately many aspects of the real world, from the impact of cloud systems on Earth's climate to the processing...
From ACM Opinion
Statistics: P Values Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg
There is no statistic more maligned than the P value.
From ACM Opinion
Don't Edit the Human Germ Line
It is thought that studies involving the use of genome-editing tools to modify the DNA of human embryos will be published shortly.
From ACM Opinion
Microscopy: Hasten High Resolution
The best electron and scanning probe microscopes today can resolve individual atoms and chemical bonds.
From ACM Opinion
Human Spaceflight: Find Asteroids to Get to Mars
Interplanetary flight is the next giant leap for humans in space. Yet consensus on even the smallest steps forward has proven elusive.
From ACM Opinion
Quantum Computers Will Give Artificial Intelligence Big Boost, Studies Suggest
Quantum computers of the future will have the potential to give artificial intelligence a major boost, a series of studies suggests.
From ACM Opinion
Beware the Creeping Cracks of Bias
Alarming cracks are starting to penetrate deep into the scientific edifice. They threaten the status of science and its value to society. And they cannot be blamed...12