R. Colin Johnson

2 weeks ago | cacm.acm.org | Marc Rotenberg |David Geer |R. Colin Johnson

Several years ago, I compiled the first reference book on AI policies.1 I aimed to provide a ready reference for the emerging field of artificial intelligence similar to the books I had published on privacy law.2  At that time, we noted the rapid explosion of AI ethics frameworks, but it was still early days for AI governance. The OECD had just finalized the first AI principles endorsed by national governments.

2 weeks ago | cacm.acm.org | Peter J Denning |David Geer |R. Colin Johnson |Carlos Baquero

“If everybody always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies, but rather that nobody believes anything any longer.” These words were spoken by the political scientist and philosopher Hannah Arendt in 1974. She was discussing how totalitarian governments, through their propaganda, might induce such wide cynicism that people lose faith in the truth.

2 weeks ago | cacm.acm.org | David Geer |R. Colin Johnson |Carlos Baquero

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insures U.S. personal bank deposits up to $250,000. When the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed in 2023, the FDIC protected consumers and their money. Cryptocurrency has no similar protection. If criminals steal your crypto, you may not get it back. On February 21, 2025, thieves stole $1.46 billion of Ethereum (ETH) using a Dubai-based Bybit cryptocurrency exchange wallet. Major news reports called it the largest cryptocurrency theft ever.

2 weeks ago | cacm.acm.org | R. Colin Johnson |Carlos Baquero |Doug Meil

U.S. National Laboratories (Argonne, Lawrence Livermore, and Oak Ridge) possess three of the world’s fastest exascale supercomputers (as of the November 2024 Top500 ranking), which are capable of performing one quintillion (a billion billion) operations per second. One of the highest priorities (among many) for these supercomputers is mapping and characterizing the 95% of the universe that is unseen but inferred to be there—namely, dark matter (~27%) and dark energy (~68%).

2 weeks ago | cacm.acm.org | Carlos Baquero |R. Colin Johnson |Doug Meil

Imagine you have a paper list of your monthly expenses and want to find the total. A skilled comptometer (mechanical calculator) operator could perform this calculation much faster than is possible today. The reason lies in the input method and the operator’s skill. Entering numbers on a numeric keypad is a slow process, which is why barcodes and RFIDs are commonly used in shops these days. Comptometers allow pressing multiple keys simultaneously using different fingers.