Communications of the ACM
The Role of Robotics in Managing Public Health and Infectious Diseases
As the COVID-19 epidemic escalates, robots have the potential to be deployed for disinfection, delivering medications and food…
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...
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...
From ACM Opinion
Don't Be Fooled by Fake Images and Videos Online
One month before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, an "Access Hollywood" recording of Donald Trump was released in which he was heard lewdly talking about women...
From ACM Opinion
AI's Big Challenge
The recently signed executive order establishing the American AI Initiative correctly identifies artificial intelligence as central to American competitiveness...
From ACM Opinion
Why Scientists Sometimes Make Extraordinary Claims
The interstellar object known as 'Oumuamua plunged into our solar system in 2017, leaving a trail of mystery in its wake.
From ACM Opinion
Don't Fight the Robots. Tax Them.
When Bill Gates floated the idea of imposing a tax on robots a couple of years ago, Lawrence Summers, a former top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, called...
From ACM Opinion
Will AI Achieve Consciousness? Wrong Question
When Norbert Wiener, the father ofcybernetics, wrote his book The Human Use of Human Beings in 1950, vacuum tubes were still the primary electronic building blocks...
From ACM Opinion
China Will Likely Corner the 5G Market, and the S Has No Plan
You may have heard that China has cornered much of the world's supply of strategic metals and minerals crucial for new technology, including lithium, rare earths...
From ACM Opinion
An Intrepid Explorer of Mars Falls Silent
Opportunity, formally known as Mars Exploration Rover B but as Oppy to its many friends and admirers, was pronounced dead on Wednesday after a final round of beamed...
From ACM Opinion
Be Kind to Extraterrestrials
In his celebrated book On Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau wrote: "We need the tonic of wildness.... At the same time that we are earnest to explore and learn all...
From Communications of the ACM
From Computational Thinking to Computational Action
Envisioning computing education that both teaches and empowers.
From Communications of the ACM
It's About Power
A call to rethink ethics and equity in computing education.
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
Potential 'Dark Sides' of Leisure Technology Use in Youth
Time for balanced reflections on technology.
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 ACM Opinion
Electronic Contracts and the Illusion of Consent
Q: What do you do when you see a little button on a webpage or app screen that says I agree?
From ACM Opinion
The Two Codes Your Kids Need to Know
A few years ago, the leaders of the College Board, the folks who administer the SAT college entrance exam, asked themselves a radical question: Of all the skills...
From ACM Opinion
What Trump's Executive Order on AI Is Missing
President Trump signed an executive order on February 11 meant to shore up our competitive position in the international race for AI supremacy, but it is short...
From ACM Opinion
This Is Why AI Has Yet to Reshape Most Businesses
The art of making perfumes and colognes hasn't changed much since the 1880s, when synthetic ingredients began to be used.
From ACM Opinion