Search results for “site:cacm.acm.org”

Ransomware: Extortion Is My Business – Communications of the ACM

Ransomware is one of the most harmful and costly cyber threats in existence, with potentially devastating consequences. In May 2021, the DarkTrace ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline forced the shutdown of all pipeline operations that transport approximately 400 million liters per day of...

In short: Uncover the evolution of ransomware tactics and learn about the expanded attack surface affecting all digital infrastructure in this comprehensive study. (AI summary)

GPT-4’s Successes, and GPT-4’s Failures – Communications of the ACM

GPT-4 is amazing, and GPT-4 is a failure. GPT is legitimately amazing. It can see (though we don’t have a lot of details on that yet); it does astonishingly well on a whole bunch of standardized tests, like LSATs, GREs, and SATs. It has also already been adopted in a bunch of commercial systems...

In short: Explore the successes and failures of GPT-4 in AI, learn about its limitations in truthfulness, reliability, and current events, and understand why it's not yet a solution for chat-style search. (AI summary)

How AI Raises the Bar for Developers – Communications of the ACM

The intelligence embedded in today’s AI software is the sum of multiple years of dedicated work by hundreds of thousands of programmers over the last several decades. Multiplying the duration by the number of people who have contributed...

In short: Explore how AI is reshaping developer roles and the challenges in making AI models understand user needs like a human programmer, using the example of writin... (AI summary)

Changing the World Through HCI and UX – Communications of the ACM

You can build the best technology, but if it doesn’t meet real needs, it becomes a misdirected effort. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) helps ensure technologies are useful and usable. I started the first HCI and user experience (UX)...

In short: Learn how an HCI and UX pioneer in Indonesia transformed fisheries and financial institutions through tech solutions. Discover insights on language barriers,... (AI summary)

Sampling, Synthesis, and Input Devices – Communications of the ACM

Many efforts in computer graphics focus on mimicking reality to generate images and 3D models that capture the same visual fidelity and realistic properties as the physical world. Traditionally, these efforts start with an empty canvas. A...

Can AI Replace Copilots on Passenger Jets? – Communications of the ACM

In a bid to boost the economics of the aviation industry and alleviate a pilot shortage at the same time, researchers in the U.S. and Europe for the last two decades have been investigating ways in which one of the two pilots in the cockpits of passenger airliners could be replaced with an...

Advancing the Ability of Robots to Help – Communications of the ACM

Ayanna howard, roboticist, ACM Athena Lecturer, and dean of The Ohio State University College of Engineering, is optimistic about the ability of robots to help people. She understands the challenges that must be addressed for that to...

Hit the Goalie / With the Puck / In the Neck – Communications of the ACM

The language of formal reasoning is often used in applied computer science to characterize the properties of engineered systems. In a recent post, I described how the Internet’s Transport Control Protocol (TCP) is typically described as “reliable” when in fact it only reduces the occurrence of...

Building Safer and Interoperable AI Systems – Communications of the ACM

While I am no expert on artificial intelligence (AI), I have some experience with the concept of agents. Thirty-five years ago, my colleague, Robert Kahn, and I explored the idea of knowledge robots (“knowbots” for short)a in the context of digital libraries. In principle, a knowbot was a mobile...

Toward Effective AI Support for Developers – Communications of the ACM

Years of software engineering and product development have taught us that the best way to build products that delight customers is to talk to customers. Talking to actual customers provides important insights into their challenges and their loves. This leads to innovative and creative ways of...