Colossus: The Messiah Project

When they were promoting the original release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, I believe Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick each told interviewers variations on this joke, which probably received wide traffic in the 1960s:

The first supercomputer is built, and it’s virtually omniscient. Scientists ponder what historic first question to ask it. So after extensive deliberation, they program the initial punchcard (remember, we’re talking the 1960s here): IS THERE A GOD?

“THERE IS NOW”, the computer immediately replies–and it was right!

(H/T: 5FF)