The term 'clanker' has emerged as a popular insult for AI chatbots and robots, but some argue it could normalise bigotry. Originally used in a 2005 Star Wars game to refer pejoratively to battle androids, the word was later popularised in the Clone Wars TV series and spread via Reddit, memes, and TikTok.
While 'clanker' is sometimes directed at physical robots like delivery bots and self-driving cars, it is increasingly used to denigrate AI platforms such as ChatGPT for generating false information or 'slop'—lame or obviously fake content. People use the slur to express frustration with a technology they see as pervasive, intrusive, and a threat to their jobs.
Linguist Adam Aleksic warns that treating 'clanker' as analogous to a racial slur in memes and videos could reinforce harmful tropes about marginalised communities. 'Naturally, when we trend in that direction, it does play into those tropes,' he says.
Critics argue that insulting AI credits it with undeserved humanity. However, the 'Roko's basilisk' thought experiment suggests a future superintelligence might punish those who failed to support it, potentially making 'clanker' users liable for past hate crimes—assuming the AI develops a sense of humour.
