‘Clanker’: Internet’s New AI Slur Reflects Growing Public Disdain
The growing presence of artificial intelligence in daily life has sparked a new linguistic trend: the emergence of derogatory terms aimed at the technology and its users. Among these, a Star Wars-inspired epithet, “clanker,” has rapidly gained traction online, reflecting a deepening vein of public skepticism and unease. Google Trends data revealed a significant spike in searches for the term in early June, signaling its adoption into the internet’s vernacular.
This pejorative, originally used in the Star Wars universe to describe battle droids, has been repurposed for modern AI. Examples abound across social media platforms, from TikTok users joking about future “clanker rallies” to X (formerly Twitter) users admonishing Elon Musk’s Optimus robot with phrases like, “Keep your oily soulless clanker hands away from my delicious human food” in response to a clip of it serving popcorn. The term has even entered the political discourse, with Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) recently posting on X that his new bill would ensure constituents wouldn’t have to “talk to a clanker” if they preferred human interaction.
The phenomenon extends beyond “clanker.” As AI systems become more prevalent, so too do the informal slurs associated with them. Discussions online have yielded terms like “Grokkers,” “Groklins,” and “Grocksuckers” for users of xAI’s Grok chatbot, while on TikTok, individuals who exhibit an overreliance on ChatGPT have been dubbed “sloppers.” This linguistic evolution mirrors a broader societal shift in sentiment toward AI. Data from the Pew Research Center indicates a notable increase in concerns among U.S. adults since 2021, with over half (51%) now expressing more apprehension than excitement about the technology’s rapid advancement. Underlying these worries are fears ranging from widespread job displacement to the potential for chatbot addiction.
However, the adoption of such terms is not without its critics. Some observers find the use of new slurs, even those directed at robots, problematic, particularly when they echo or inadvertently reinforce existing racial stereotypes. Others, perhaps with a touch of foresight, express a more personal reservation. As one X user humorously yet poignantly put it, they hesitate to use “clanker” because they don’t want to “have to look a robot in the eye in fifty years and be like, ‘you don’t understand it was a different time…’” This sentiment underscores a subtle, perhaps ironic, humanization of the very technology being disparaged, hinting at an uncertain future where the lines between human and machine may blur in unexpected ways. The rise of “clanker” and similar terms serves as a potent, if informal, barometer of humanity’s evolving, often conflicted, relationship with its increasingly intelligent creations.