Communications of the ACM
Q&A: The AI Composer
Computer scientist Luc Steels uses artificial intelligence to explore the origins and evolution of language.
From ACM Opinion
An 'Interview' With Google's New Digital Assistant
Alphabet Inc.'s Google unit introduced a new digital assistant Wednesday. Bloomberg News put the system through its paces by asking questions, some of which were...
From ACM Opinion
Q+A With The First Female Director Of MIT's Largest Research Lab
Daniela Rus is the first female director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. From her post, she has witnessed and influenced a number...
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft's Top Lawyer Becomes a Civil Rights Crusader
When Apple CEO Tim Cook refused to help the FBI get into a mass murderer's iPhone last winter, he was hailed for his boldness in fighting the government on ...
From ACM Opinion
How Scientifically Plausible Is 'Star Trek'?
"Star Trek" turns 50 on Sept. 8, and instead of buying it a fancy sports car, our mission is to boldly go down the "Star Trek" rabbit hole, or rather, wormhole,...
From ACM Opinion
Orwell Was Right: Oliver Stone on What Makes Snowden Exciting
Oliver Stone wants you to know he's not an activist.
From ACM Opinion
20 Big Questions about the Future of Humanity
1. Does humanity have a future beyond Earth?
From ACM Opinion
Mind-Controlled Robo-Skeleton Enables Paraplegics to Regain Some Motion
Patients paralyzed by a spinal cord injury can face a grim and grueling recovery process—one in which regaining function is far from a sure thing. But a new study...
From ACM Opinion
Tim Cook: Running Apple 'Is Sort of a Lonely Job'
On a sleek white coffee table in Apple CEO Tim Cook's fourth-floor office in late July, beneath framed posters of Robert F. Kennedy, the Rev. Martin Luther King...
From ACM Opinion
What Virtual Reality Is Good For
After years as a punchline, virtual reality is enjoying a renaissance. Venture capitalists plowed $1.2 billion into virtual-reality and augmented-reality startups...
From ACM Opinion
Google's Driverless-Car Czar on Taking the Human Out of the Equation
You devoted your life to human-driven transportation, engineering SUVs at Ford and taking Hyundai (as U.S. CEO and president) to record levels of sales in the U...
From ACM Opinion
How One Journalist Uses Social Media to Get Inside the Minds of ISIS
Rukmini Callimachi is arguably the best reporter on the most important beat in the world. As a New York Times correspondent covering terrorism, her work explores...
From ACM Opinion
NSA Director Rogers on DNC Hacking, Cyberwarfare and ISIS
When it comes to warfare—the weapons, the budgets, the personnel—America is king. But the United States has not yet conquered cyberwarfare.
From ACM Opinion
CIA Cyber Official Sees Data Flood as Both Godsend and Danger
When he started at the CIA, Sean Roche recalls how little solid data the U.S. spy agency had on what was going on inside the Kremlin.
From ACM Opinion
Werner Herzog's Web
Werner Herzog gazes solemnly at the metal exoskeleton. The set of robotic arms lies slumped in a laboratory on the UCLA campus, surrounded by empty cardboard boxes...
From ACM Opinion
Microsoft's President Explains the Company's Quiet Legal War for User Privacy
Apple's legal battle over encryption dominated headlines earlier this year, but another tech giant is fighting a quieter legal war over user privacy: Microsoft....
From ACM Opinion
Snowden: 'I Never Thought I'd Be Saved' After NSA Leaks
When Edward Snowden leaked highly classified secrets about government spying, he changed the way the world thinks of cybersecurity.
From ACM Opinion
This Guy Trains Computers to Find Future Criminals
When historians look back at the turmoil over prejudice and policing in the U.S. over the past few years, they're unlikely to dwell on the case of Eric Loomis.
From ACM Opinion
Obama's Top Scientist Talks Shrinking Budgets, Donald Trump, and His Biggest Regret
John Holdren is no stranger to the spotlight. Over his long career in science, Holdren—a physicist by training—has worked on controversial issues such as climate...
From ACM Opinion