CACM Blog
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CACM Blog
1d ago
I recently attended the Logic Mentoring Workshop, a workshop for young researchers to discuss academic life as logicians and computer scientists. Many students feel insecure at conferences because they find a lot of the talks hard or impossible to follow. I do not blame them; I often do not get much out of conference talks myself, and when discussing this with the more senior researchers in my group, even they admitted the same. This means that the problem is not with the audience, but with the speakers.
We seem to have forgotten the main purpose of a conference: to share our work with others ..read more
CACM Blog
6d ago
Embodied AI involves embedding artificial intelligence into tangible entities, such as robots, equipping them with the capacity to perceive, learn from, and engage dynamically with their surroundings [1]. This approach facilitates robots in evolving and adapting to environmental changes. A notable instance of this is the Figure AI humanoid, which leverages OpenAI’s cutting-edge technologies. It showcases the humanoid’s advanced ability to comprehend its environment and respond aptly to various stimuli, marking a significant stride in the development of intelligent, interactive machines. In thi ..read more
CACM Blog
1w ago
In 2008, after nearly a decade of researching and writing, Liberating Voices: A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution, was published. I was singled out as the author of the book, but the 136 “patterns” it contained were contributed by over 75 people. Each “pattern” in the book (and online) is a seed for generating ideas to help tackle the major issues we face today.
The pattern language concept organizes patterns that are intended to be used together into a coherent whole. It was originally developed by Christopher Alexander and his colleagues to promote the construction of buildings a ..read more
CACM Blog
1w ago
Music and science and engineering are seemingly distant disciplines that stand apart as two separate, diverging entities. In recent years, however, a substantial amount of collaborative research has been conducted on aspects of music listening and instrument playing and their effects on the brain. Music is, in fact, a medium of abstract science that stimulates our emotions, expands our horizons, and develops strong motoric, spatial, and communicative skills. The Technion, which ranks among the top 100 universities worldwide, is one of the first science and engineering research universities to ..read more
CACM Blog
1w ago
Data storage is one of the foundations of effective work for both companies and individuals. However, with the constant growth in the volume of information and the increasing likelihood of data loss due to emergencies or cyber-attacks, such as ransomware, it is clear that now, more than ever, it is important to get ahead of the curve by setting up backup cloud storage. Although it involves additional costs and efforts, this is not just about protecting information but about ensuring our peace of mind and having a reliable plan B in these turbulent times.
Backup cloud storage is a remote data s ..read more
CACM Blog
3w ago
Application of Generative AI within the strict guardrails of banking and finance is a critical endeavor that requires a delicate balance between innovation and compliance.
These advanced AI systems have the potential to revolutionize processes, enhance customer experiences, and drive operational efficiency. However, it is often challenging to apply Generative AI on highly sensitive financial data. Its adoption requires ensuring strict alignment to regulatory requirements and ethical standards.
Financial institutions are increasingly leaning towards Generative AI primarily to automate tasks, ge ..read more
CACM Blog
3w ago
Slide rules are once widespread mathematical instruments designed on the basis of the logarithms discovered by Jost Bürgi (Switzerland) and John Napier (Scotland). These instruments reduce multiplication to the addition and division to the subtraction of line segments. There are different types of instruments: linear slide rules, circular slide rules, cylindrical slide rules, and pocket watch slide rules. This analog calculating instrument dates from the 17th century and was in use until the 1970s. The English mathematician William Oughtred is considered the inventor of the slide rule. The lon ..read more
CACM Blog
3w ago
A former classmate of mine, who went into construction and mechanical engineering when I chose computer science, told me once that in one of the last lectures, the lead professor said to his class that over the years they had learned many sophisticated concepts and techniques, but in the end if they remember just one thing it should be this: if the equations show that the building is moving up from the earth, not sinking down into the earth, the equations are wrong and they should start again.
A former software development colleague similarly told me that the one thing he remembered from ..read more
CACM Blog
3w ago
On January 1st 2024, Niklaus E. Wirth died at the age of 89. Wirth, an ACM A.M. Turing Award laureate, leaves a longstanding legacy in the field of programming languages. While other eulogy texts brought us precious insight into Wirth’s life and research, we take this moment to focus more generally on what can be done to preserve the memory and work documentation of the founders of computer science.
In the pantheon of scientific disciplines, computer science is still an infant. If we date the beginning of computer science to the work of Turing, the field has not yet reached a century of develo ..read more
CACM Blog
3w ago
Introduction
Over the past year, I have published a series of CACM blogs in which I anslyzed the introduction of generative AI, in general, and of ChatGPT, in particular, to computer science education (see, ChatGPT in Computer Science Education – January 23, 2023; ChatGPT in Computer Science Education: Freshmen’s Conceptions, co-authored with Yael Erez – August 7, 2023; and ChatGPT (and Other Generative AI Applications) as a Disruptive Technology for Computer Science Education: Obsolescence or Reinvention – co-authored with Yael Erez – September 18, 2023).
One of the messages of these bl ..read more