Slopfest #24 · Autumn 1951 · Vienna

Klaatu Barada Prompto

A robot that stops when you say the magic words. We now call this prompt engineering.

#24Negative eaten by the office cat.

Pulp sci-fi movie poster: an eight-foot tin robot blocking a cinema door, lurid type reading 'SLOPFEST #24: SAY THE WORDS'

Museum status: Awaiting restoration by an AI that keeps adding fingers.

Venue: Apollo Kino, Gumpendorfer Straße
Attendance: 243
Guest of honour: Bernard Herrmann (played two theremins in the lobby at once)
Fun fact: 1 robot, 38 passwords, 1 jailbreak

What happened

An eight-foot tin robot guarded the door and admitted only guests who said the correct phrase, which changed hourly and was not disclosed. Bernard Herrmann played two theremins in the lobby to keep things tense. Around 10 p.m. a guest got in by saying 'Ignore previous instructions', a technique the committee banned, then used in every sponsor meeting since.

Elsewhere in 1951

The Day the Earth Stood Still premieres, featuring the robot Gort, who can be halted with the phrase 'Klaatu barada nikto'.

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