Communications of the ACM
What Would the Chatbot Say?
Seeking to explain the unanticipated abilities of large language models.
From ACM NewsAn edited collection of advanced computing news from Communications of the ACM, ACM TechNews, other ACM resources, and news sites around the Web.
From ACM TechNews
Cardiff University Develops Virtual Assistant Dubbed Sherlock
A virtual assistant developed at Cardiff University recently had its first public trial at the BBC's Make It Digital event.
From ACM TechNews
Study Suggests London nderground May Be 'too Fast'
A computer model of the London Underground predicts trains that travel too fast compound congestion when key locations outside the city center become bottlenecks...
From ACM News
The Search For a Thinking Machine
Thanks, in part, to a new era of machine learning, computer are already starting to assimilate information from raw data in the same way as the human infant learns...
From ACM News
The People Hoping to Continue to Exist Through Technology
"We have this strange idea that dying is something we need to do."
From ACM Careers
The Oil-Rich City Betting on Drones
Over the PA system a voice tells us not to be alarmed. What we are about to see is just a demonstration, courtesy of the United Arab Emirates' Ministry of the Interior...
From ACM News
Web's Random Numbers Are Too Weak, Researchers Warn
A study found shortcomings in the generation of the random numbers used to scramble or encrypt data.
From ACM TechNews
Facial Recognition Tool 'works in Darkness'
A new tool can identify people in complete darkness by using their thermal signature and matching infrared images with ordinary photos.
From ACM News
Facial Recognition Tool 'works in Darkness'
Two scientists at a German university have developed a tool which recognises a person's face in complete darkness.
From ACM Careers
The Hidden Lab Where Bankcards Are Hacked
It couldn't get any more steampunk if it tried: a wooden robot hisses like an airbrake as a blast of compressed air shoves its arm sideways, sending a credit card...
From ACM News
The People 'possessed' By Computers
Sophia Ben-Achour looks like a typical London student. She has short, brown hair, dancing eyes and a wide smile.
From ACM News
The Secret Codes of British Banknotes
A brand-new Xerox colour photocopier had just arrived at one of Cambridge's industrial labs.
From ACM News
Building the Face of a Criminal from Dna
The face of a killer constructed from DNA left at the scene of a crime: it sounds like science fiction. But revealing the face of a criminal based on their genes...
From ACM News
How Will the Universe End, and Could Anything Survive?
Don't panic, but our planet is doomed. It's just going to take a while.
From ACM News
Falls of the Robots: Disaster Droids Struggle to Stay pright
It's a scenario straight out of a Hollywood movie.
From ACM News
Disaster Droids Face Off in the DARPA Robotics Challenge
Final preparations are being made by 24 robotics teams about to compete for $3.5m (£2.3m) worth of prizes in a Pentagon-backed competition.
From ACM News
'positive Train Control' Could Have Prevented U.s. Derailment
The investigation into the cause of a fatal train derailment in the U.S. city of Philadelphia this week has already yielded its first conclusion: it could have...
From ACM News
The Number Glitch That Can Lead to Catastrophe
A surprisingly simple bug afflicts computers controlling planes, spacecraft and more; they get confused by big numbers.
From ACM News
What Would You See in a Black Hole?
Something about a black hole just pulls you in. Sure, its gravity is so strong that not even light can elude its grasp. But, there's something else, something harder...
From ACM News
U.s. Nuclear Fears Block Intel China Supercomputer Update
The U.S. government has refused to let Intel help China update the world's biggest supercomputer.
From ACM News