clanker
In plain wordsA slang insult for robots and AI systems, borrowed from Star Wars, that went viral in 2025 as a way of expressing annoyance at, or rejection of, AI.
A derogatory term for a robot, AI system or chatbot, and by extension for AI-generated content or its enthusiasts. Its 2025 popularity combined backlash against AI slopAI slop, n.: Low-quality content churned out in bulk by AI — bland articles, fake-looking images, filler videos — posted to grab clicks or fill space, with little care for accuracy or value., automated customer service and feared job losses with playful in-group humor: it was used to dismiss bot replies in comment sections and in comic skits imagining future prejudice between humans and robots. The word itself was debated. Some linguists described it as modeled on slurs for human groups and objected to memes that borrowed the imagery of historical racism; others argued it is an insult rather than a slur, since machines are not a marginalized group.
The reply thread was half bots, and the other half was people calling them clankers.
Origin
An isolated 1958 use by the science-fiction writer William Tenn, for the robots of films such as Metropolis, predates the modern word, which comes from Star Wars: first used for battle droids in the video game Republic Commando (2005), it was popularized by clone troopers in the animated series The Clone Wars (from 2008). It went viral as an anti-AI insult on social media in mid-2025; in June 2025 US Senator Ruben Gallego used it to promote a bill letting callers reach a human instead of an automated customer-service agent.
Usage note
Older science-fiction insults for artificial beings include 'skinjob' (Blade Runner, 1982) and 'toaster' (the 2000s Battlestar Galactica series). Compare the Dune-derived Butlerian JihadButlerian Jihad, prop. n.: In the Dune novels, an ancient human revolt that destroyed every thinking machine and banned them for good; in AI debates, a name for any call to stop or outlaw advanced AI. for organized anti-AI sentiment.
Related
- AI slopAI slop, n.: Low-quality content churned out in bulk by AI — bland articles, fake-looking images, filler videos — posted to grab clicks or fill space, with little care for accuracy or value.
- Butlerian JihadButlerian Jihad, prop. n.: In the Dune novels, an ancient human revolt that destroyed every thinking machine and banned them for good; in AI debates, a name for any call to stop or outlaw advanced AI.
- SkynetSkynet, prop. n.: The military computer network in the Terminator films that becomes self-aware and tries to wipe out humanity; now everyday shorthand for the fear of AI turning against people.
- Frankenstein complexFrankenstein complex, n.: Isaac Asimov's name for the fear that intelligent machines will turn on the people who made them, after Mary Shelley's novel about a scientist destroyed by his own creation.
- uncanny valleyuncanny valley, n.: The eerie feeling people get from robots, dolls or computer-made faces that look almost, but not quite, human: liking grows with human likeness, then suddenly plunges.
Mentioned in
AI slopAI slop, n.: Low-quality content churned out in bulk by AI — bland articles, fake-looking images, filler videos — posted to grab clicks or fill space, with little care for accuracy or value., Butlerian JihadButlerian Jihad, prop. n.: In the Dune novels, an ancient human revolt that destroyed every thinking machine and banned them for good; in AI debates, a name for any call to stop or outlaw advanced AI.