Communications of the ACM
Why Google's AI Can Write Beautiful Songs but Still Can't Tell a Joke
Creating noodling piano tunes and endless configurations of cat drawings with AI may not sound like an obvious project for Google…
From ACM Opinion
For the Debaters: What Shall We Do About the Tech Careening Our Way?
Here's a question I’m hoping comes up at Monday's presidential debate: Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump, what would you do about self-driving trucks?
From ACM Opinion
Are the Experts Worried About the Existential Risk of Artificial Intelligence?
If you believe everything you read, you are probably quite worried about the prospect of a superintelligent, killer AI.
From ACM Opinion
The Cold War Is Over. The Cyber War Has Begun.
Contemplating Russian nuclear threats during the Cold War, the strategist Herman Kahn calibrated a macabre ladder of escalation, with 44 rungs ranging from "Ostensible...
From ACM Opinion
Big Step for Quantum Teleportation Won't Bring Us Any Closer to Star Trek. Here's Why
Two teams have set new distance records for quantum teleportation: using the weirdness of quantum mechanics to instantly transfer the condition or "state" of one...
From ACM Opinion
'Just Because We Can With Data, Doesn't Mean We Should'
Data scientists should have a strong moral compass in order to handle big data, according to DJ Patil, deputy chief technology officer for data policy and chief...
From ACM Opinion
The Leaky Myths of Snowden
Oliver Stone's Snowden is a bad movie, stuffed with myth, short on drama.
From ACM Opinion
Neither Hillary Clinton Nor Donald Trump Is Tech Savvy
Rachel Law, the 20-something co-founder of a New York startup called Kip, is sitting next to me at a café, tapping her phone screen to show how the company’s service...
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 Feds Will Soon Be Able to Legally Hack Almost Anyone
Digital devices and software programs are complicated. Behind the pointing and clicking on screen are thousands of processes and routines that make everything work...
From ACM Opinion
The Time I Went on Border Patrol in a Virtual Reality World
I found myself on a desolate desert road, in front of a man who was leaning against the hood of a banged-up sedan and next to a United States Border Patrol agent...
From ACM Opinion
How Long Until Hackers Start Faking Leaked Documents?
In the past few years, the devastating effects of hackers breaking into an organization's network, stealing confidential data, and publishing everything have been...
From ACM Opinion
The Worlds of H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells (1866–1946) occupies a singular place in science and culture.
From ACM Opinion
Paperless Voting Could Fuel 'Rigged' Election Claims
Voters in four competitive states will cast ballots in November on electronic machines that leave no paper trail—a lapse that threatens to sow distrust about a...
From ACM Opinion
The Do-Not-Call List Has a Gaping Hole
Sure, legitimate telemarketers will refrain from calling you if you've put your phone number on it. But criminal telephone spammers will call you anyway because...
From ACM Opinion
Before Apple And Facebook, There Was Something More Revolutionary
It's easy to think that the modern era in communication began in the 1990s with the birth of the Internet.
From ACM Opinion
The Next President Will Decide the Fate of Killer Robots, and the Future of War
The next president will have a range of issues on their plate, from how to deal with growing tensions with China and Russia, to an ongoing war against ISIS.
From ACM Opinion
Everyone Gets the Future Wrong: Lo and Behold Movie Review
Hackers? Check. Driverless cars? Check. SpaceX? Check. Robots? Check. Elon Musk? Check. ARPANET? Check. Video game addicts? Check. Brainscans? Check. Internet of...
From ACM Opinion
How an Inventor You've Probably Never Heard of Shaped the Modern World
Many of the inventors who fueled the digital revolution have become household names.
From ACM Opinion
How Tech Giants Are Devising Real Ethics for Artificial Intelligence
For years, science-fiction moviemakers have been making us fear the bad things that artificially intelligent machines might do to their human creators.
From ACM Opinion