acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Opinion


Articles Interviews Vardi's Insights Chien's Vantage Opinion Archive Refine your search:
dateMore Than a Year Ago
subjectTheory
authorScientific American
bg-corner

If (Virtual) Reality Feels Almost Right, It's Exactly Wrong
From ACM Opinion

If (Virtual) Reality Feels Almost Right, It's Exactly Wrong

We can all remember the crisply beveled edges of our cheery-yellow No. 2 pencil, the cool, smooth feel of a chalk-powdered blackboard, the gritty red bricks of...

What the History of Math Can Teach ­s About the Future of AI
From ACM Opinion

What the History of Math Can Teach ­s About the Future of AI

Whenever an impressive new technology comes along, people rush to imagine the havoc it could wreak on society, and they overreact. Today we see this happening with...

Intelligent to a Fault: When AI Screws ­p, You Might Still Be to Blame
From ACM Opinion

Intelligent to a Fault: When AI Screws ­p, You Might Still Be to Blame

Artificial intelligence is already making significant inroads in taking over mundane, time-consuming tasks many humans would rather not do.

How Technology Can Make Valentine's Day Much, Much Better
From ACM Opinion

How Technology Can Make Valentine's Day Much, Much Better

Every February I agonize over the Valentine's Day Dilemma. How can I show my girlfriend, whom I'll call Emily, how much I love her?

For AI to Get Creative, It Must Learn the Rules, Then How to Break 'em
From ACM Opinion

For AI to Get Creative, It Must Learn the Rules, Then How to Break 'em

American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Every artist was first an amateur." He likely never thought those words would apply to machines.

I Am a Roboticist in a Cheese Factory
From ACM Opinion

I Am a Roboticist in a Cheese Factory

Most people think about robots as autonomous machines guided by artificial intelligence.

Meltdown and Spectre Expose the Dark Side of Superfast Computers
From ACM Opinion

Meltdown and Spectre Expose the Dark Side of Superfast Computers

Hundreds of gadget makers and software companies at this week's annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas are staking the success of their newest products...

How Nasa's Search For Et Relies on Advanced AI
From ACM Opinion

How Nasa's Search For Et Relies on Advanced AI

The biggest knock against sending robots to explore the solar system for signs of life has always been their inability to make intuitive, even creative decisions...

Beyond Bitcoin: How Technology Could Help Fix Our Broken Financial System
From ACM Opinion

Beyond Bitcoin: How Technology Could Help Fix Our Broken Financial System

On a spring day more than 5,000 years ago in the Mesopotamian city of Ur, a foreign merchant sold his wares in exchange for a large bundle of silver.

Do We Need Brain Implants to Keep ­p with Robots?
From ACM Opinion

Do We Need Brain Implants to Keep ­p with Robots?

Pundits have been fretting a lot lately about robots leaving humans behind, taking our jobs and possibly a lot more, as in The Matrix and Terminator films.

What We Know About the Climate Change-Hurricane Connection
From ACM Opinion

What We Know About the Climate Change-Hurricane Connection

With Texas just beginning to recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey and the Southeastern U.S. preparing for Hurricane Irma's iminent arrival, people...

Is the Power Grid Getting More Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?
From ACM Opinion

Is the Power Grid Getting More Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks?

Two weeks ago it was cyberattacks on the Irish power grid. Last month it was a digital assault on U.S. energy companies, including a nuclear power plant. Back in...

Magical Technologies Just Over the Horizon
From ACM Opinion

Magical Technologies Just Over the Horizon

We the people have always been helplessly drawn to the concept of magic: the notion that you can will something to happen by wiggling your nose, speaking special...

Preserving the Right to Cognitive Liberty
From ACM Opinion

Preserving the Right to Cognitive Liberty

The idea of the human mind as the domain of absolute protection from external intrusion has persisted for centuries.

Profile of Claude Shannon, Inventor of Information Theory
From ACM Opinion

Profile of Claude Shannon, Inventor of Information Theory

Claude Shannon couldn't sit still.

Is Anyone Home? A Way to Find Out If AI Has Become Self-Aware
From ACM Opinion

Is Anyone Home? A Way to Find Out If AI Has Become Self-Aware

Every moment of your waking life and whenever you dream, you have the distinct inner feeling of being "you."

20 Years After Deep Blue: How AI Has Advanced Since Conquering Chess
From ACM Opinion

20 Years After Deep Blue: How AI Has Advanced Since Conquering Chess

Twenty years ago IBM's Deep Blue computer stunned the world by becoming the first machine to beat a reigning world chess champion in a six-game match.

Ghost in the Sell: Hollywood's Mischievous Vision of AI
From ACM Opinion

Ghost in the Sell: Hollywood's Mischievous Vision of AI

Watch enough science fiction movies and you'll probably come to the conclusion that humans are living on borrowed time.

Darpa's Biotech Chief Says 2017 Will 'blow Our Minds'
From ACM Opinion

Darpa's Biotech Chief Says 2017 Will 'blow Our Minds'

The Pentagon's research and development division, DARPA—the creative force behind the internet and GPS—retooled itself three years ago to create a new office dedicated...

Trump's Plans to Shake ­p the Tech World
From ACM Opinion

Trump's Plans to Shake ­p the Tech World

Donald Trump's ascension to the White House had very little to do with his views on the spread of high-speed broadband, wireless spectrum allocation—or any number...
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account