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Cozmo Is an Artificially Intelligent Toy Truck That's Also the Future of Robotics
From ACM Opinion

Cozmo Is an Artificially Intelligent Toy Truck That's Also the Future of Robotics

Hanns Tappeiner types a few lines of code into his laptop and hits "return."

Why a Killer Robot Was Likely the Only Option For Dallas Police
From ACM Opinion

Why a Killer Robot Was Likely the Only Option For Dallas Police

When a police robot killed suspect Micah Johnson in Dallas early Friday morning, it was likely an unprecedented event.

Meet the Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You've Ever Seen
From ACM Opinion

Meet the Smartest, Cutest AI-Powered Robot You've Ever Seen

Boris Sofman taps his phone, and the robot on the conference room table in front of him wakes up. Not in that gadget-y way, like when a laptop screen turns on,...

After Orlando, the Homemade Ar-15 Industry Surges
From ACM Opinion

After Orlando, the Homemade Ar-15 Industry Surges

In the wake of the worst mass shooting in US history, many Americans want to ban civilians from buying the AR-15, that ultra-popular, all-American killing tool.

Orlando Shows the Limits of Facebook's Terror Policing
From ACM Opinion

Orlando Shows the Limits of Facebook's Terror Policing

Both leading up to and during his deadly assault on Orlando night club Pulse, Omar Mateen accessed his Facebook account.

Deep Learning Isn't a Dangerous Magic Genie. It's Just Math
From ACM Opinion

Deep Learning Isn't a Dangerous Magic Genie. It's Just Math

Deep learning is rapidly 'eating' artificial intelligence. But let's not mistake this ascendant form of artificial intelligence for anything more than it really...

Barefoot Networks' New Chips Will Transform the Tech Industry
From ACM Opinion

Barefoot Networks' New Chips Will Transform the Tech Industry

Nick McKeown and his new startup, Barefoot Networks, just launched out of stealth. That's Silicon Valley-speak for trumpeting the arrival of your new startup in...

The Woeful Tsa Doesn't Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech
From ACM Opinion

The Woeful Tsa Doesn't Need More Staff. It Needs This Tech

American airport security has never been something to look forward to, but in the past few weeks, it's attained new levels of misery.

The Oracle-Google Case Will Decide the Future of Software
From ACM Opinion

The Oracle-Google Case Will Decide the Future of Software

The legal battle  between Oracle and Google is about to come to an end. And nothing less is as stake than the future of programming.

Peek Into the Weird and Wonderful Age of AI (yes, There's a Chatbot)
From ACM Opinion

Peek Into the Weird and Wonderful Age of AI (yes, There's a Chatbot)

On March 23, Microsoft revealed Tay, a Twitter bot trained to chat like a millennial. It worked … too well.

Okcupid Study Reveals the Perils of Big-Data Science
From ACM Opinion

Okcupid Study Reveals the Perils of Big-Data Science

On May 8, a group of Danish researchers publicly released a dataset of nearly 70,000 users of the online dating site OkCupid, including usernames, age, gender,...

The Future of Encryption Is in These Politicians' Hands
From ACM Opinion

The Future of Encryption Is in These Politicians' Hands

Encryption is complicated. Legislating for it, even more so.

Making the Web Just a Second Faster Would Be a Big Deal
From ACM Opinion

Making the Web Just a Second Faster Would Be a Big Deal

The web is too damn slow.

700 Million People Just Got Encryption That Congress Can't Touch
From ACM Opinion

700 Million People Just Got Encryption That Congress Can't Touch

Last month, WhatsApp, the hugely popular messaging service that Facebook owns, made end-to-end encryption the default for its 1 billion users. On Tuesday, Viber...

You Pay to Read Research You Fund. That's Ludicrous
From ACM Opinion

You Pay to Read Research You Fund. That's Ludicrous

In 2011, developer and researcher Alexandra Elbakyan launched Sci-Hub, an online archive that shares research articles freely and openly without paywalls or restrictions...

Synthetic Biology Is … Complex. But This Exhibit Makes It a Blast
From ACM Opinion

Synthetic Biology Is … Complex. But This Exhibit Makes It a Blast

It takes at least a master's degree to fully understand synthetic biology, but grasping its importance requires far less.

The Senate's Draft Encryption Bill Is 'ludicrous, Dangerous, Technically Illiterate'
From ACM Opinion

The Senate's Draft Encryption Bill Is 'ludicrous, Dangerous, Technically Illiterate'

As Apple Battled the FBI for the last two months over the agency's demands that Apple help crack its own encryption, both the tech community and law enforcement...

Feds Set a Risky Precedent By Indicting 7 Iranian Hackers
From ACM Opinion

Feds Set a Risky Precedent By Indicting 7 Iranian Hackers

This week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a potentially dangerous precedent when it indicted seven Iranian hackers involved in attacks on the US financial...

Apple's Carekit Is the Best Argument Yet For Strong Encryption
From ACM Opinion

Apple's Carekit Is the Best Argument Yet For Strong Encryption

On the eve of his company’s court date with the FBI, where it will defend its right to not weaken the security of its own devices, Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage...

Self-Driving Cars Won't Work ­ntil We Change Our Roads—and Attitudes
From ACM Opinion

Self-Driving Cars Won't Work ­ntil We Change Our Roads—and Attitudes

Autonomous vehicles will join human drivers on our roads sooner than most people think.
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