Clanker

Clanker is a slur for robots. The term was coined by science fiction writer William Tenn in 1958. It was used in the Star Wars franchise, first appearing in the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando. In 2025, the term became widely used to discuss distaste for machines ranging from delivery robots to large language models. This trend has been attributed to anxiety around the negative societal impacts of artificial intelligence.

Origin

The term was coined by science fiction writer William Tenn in 1958, in a story titled "There Are Robots Among Us", in Popular Electronics.[2]

In Star Wars

In Star Wars media, robots are routinely depicted as the subjects of discrimination. For example, in the original Star Wars film, C-3PO and R2-D2 are abducted by Jawas and sold to the family of Luke Skywalker. When visiting a cantina in Mos Eisley, both robots are refused by the bartender, who remarks that "We don't serve their kind."[3][4] The term "clanker" was used as a slur against droids in the 2005 video game Star Wars: Republic Commando before being commonly used in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which follows a galaxy-wide war between clone troopers and droids.[3]

AI backlash

The growing popularity of the term "clanker" reflects an increase in direct contact between people and artificial systems.[5][6] Corporate-owned self-driving cars are being deployed across various US cities and have occasionally aggressed human targets.[7] On sidewalks, delivery robots impede mobility and cause safety issues.[8] In digital spaces, cybersecurity experts have raised concerns about the rising number of bots online, which now make up a large portion of internet traffic. Some reports estimate that about one in five social media accounts are automated.[9]

The term is also a reaction to AI advocacy from industrialists like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, who have championed the integration of artificial intelligence into nearly every aspect of modern life. This includes efforts by major tech companies and startups alike, such as Amazon's development of humanoid robots, to replace human workers in retail, hospitality, and other service industries. Such initiatives have further fueled public skepticism, reinforcing the association of "clanker" with unease over automation and the displacement of human roles.[1][10] A global survey conducted by the research firm Gartner found that 64% of customers would rather companies avoid using AI in customer service, with another 53% stating they would consider switching to a different company if they discovered AI was handling their service interactions.[9]

Criticism has also been directed at the technology itself. Some of the backlash stems from concerns about the resource intensity of AI systems, their frequent reliance on copyrighted material without consent, and questions about the intentions of the corporations behind them. Additionally, researchers have begun to highlight potential cognitive effects of relying too heavily on AI. An MIT study found that shifting mental tasks onto AI systems can lead to measurable reductions in memory performance and neural activity."Your Brain on ChatGPT". Another study, authored by researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University, warns that regular dependence on AI may leave users mentally unprepared for real-world problem solving, likening the effect to cognitive atrophy.[11]

In June 2025, United States Senator Ruben Gallego tweeted that his "new bill makes sure you don't have to talk to a clanker if you don't want to," referring to proposed legislation that would require call centers to disclose their use of automated customer service agents to callers in the United States and offer the option to switch to a human representative.[12]

Analysis

Linguist Adam Aleksic has described clanker as an evolution of racial slurs that anthropomorphizes robotic systems.[13][14] While other science fiction media includes pejoratives for robots, such as "skinjob" and "toaster" from the Blade Runner and Battlestar Galactica franchises, respectively, clanker is believed to have gained popularity because its usage is intuitive and flexible.[15] Whereas AI slop describes low-quality output from artificial intelligence, clanker belittles the underlying robotic systems.[15] Internet memes incorporating the term often joke about adapting historical prejudice toward interracial marriage into discrimination against advanced robots.[9][16]

See also

Look up clanker in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

References

  1. ^ a b Townsend, Chance (July 22, 2025). "'Clanker' is social media's new slur for our robot future". Mashable. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  2. ^ "Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: clanker". sfdictionary.com. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  3. ^ a b Bacon, Thomas (July 21, 2025). "Is 'Clanker' the New AI Slur? The Star Wars Term Making Waves in Tech". ScreenRant. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  4. ^ Whitbrook, James (August 4, 2025). "The 'Star Wars' Slur That Has Been Mainstreamed by Anti-AI Discourse". Gizmodo. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  5. ^ Jones, C. T. (August 6, 2025). "How 'Clanker' Became the Internet's New Favorite Slur". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on August 6, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  6. ^ Lalljee, Jason (August 6, 2025). "'Clankers': A robot slur emerges to express disdain for AI's takeover". Axios. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  7. ^ "Cruise admits to filing false report after robotaxi dragged a San Francisco pedestrian". NBC Bay Area.
  8. ^ Marx, Paris (2022). "The Coming Fight for the Sidewalk". Road to Nowhere. Verso.
  9. ^ a b c Abbruzzese, Jason; Wile, Rob (August 5, 2025). "Is an AI backlash brewing? What 'clanker' says about growing frustrations with emerging tech". NBC News. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  10. ^ Thubron, Rob (February 4, 2025). "Amazon's robot-driven warehouses could cut fulfillment costs by $10 billion a year". TechSpot. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  11. ^ Waite, Thom (August 1, 2025). "Clankers, Grokkers and bot-lickers: AI slurs are here to stay". Dazed. Retrieved August 9, 2025.
  12. ^ Mesa, Jesus (July 31, 2025). "There's already a slur for the AI taking peoples' jobs". Newsweek. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  13. ^ Romo, Vanessa (August 6, 2025). "It's 2025, the year we decided we need a widespread slur for robots". NPR. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  14. ^ Wong, Brittany (July 30, 2025). "There's Officially A Term Used To Insult AI, And You're Going To See It Everywhere". HuffPost. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
  15. ^ a b "What's a 'Clanker'? AI critics make it one of the most popular words in the US - why is everyone using it?". The Economic Times. August 6, 2025. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
  16. ^ Upton-Clark, Eve (August 8, 2025). "'Clanker' is the internet's favorite slur—and it's aimed at AI". Fast Company. Retrieved August 8, 2025.
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