The weirdness of AI discussions in 2025 contains its personal set of vocabulary, from AGI to agentic motion, however one not too long ago viral little bit of slang I simply cannot stand is “Clanker.”
You may see Clanker popping up on Reddit threads, Discord memes, or TikTok video feedback as a blanket insult for something vaguely AI-related. You may hear individuals name a chatbot interviewer for a job a Clanker, or a customer support rep that seems to be an artificial voice that’s lower than useful.
The time period is a traditional sci-fi insult from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the place it was a slur that clone troopers used for battle droids. Calling these metallic troopers a reputation that is principally an onomatopoeia for his or her tinny footstomps is sensible, and Clanker is a pleasant PG-level phrase that may be stated in a cartoon for teenagers.
It’s possible you’ll like
Utilizing the time period in the actual world as an indirect shorthand for AI techniques you dislike is a clumsy match at greatest. Not as a result of it’s offensive to fictional robots. However as a result of it’s restricted in scope, technically inaccurate, and trivializes actual points round AI, whereas reinforcing errors in how individuals take into account AI at a time once we want actual conversations across the expertise and the best way to deploy it in society.
Clunky Clanker
Calling a language mannequin a Clanker is like calling your Wi-Fi lazy when it is sluggish or hoping your pc had a pleasant nap once you put it in sleep mode. AI techniques constructed from predictive statistics usually are not impartial robots. And possibly if it solely meant that the AI instruments have been being recalcitrant, I might cope with it, but it surely’s so clearly a time period individuals use to try to appear edgy, it grates on my nerves. And utilizing a goofy insult doesn’t magically flip your AI use right into a punk rock transfer; it simply implies you are out of insult concepts.
It is not even humorous; it is extra of an inside joke that suggests membership in a selected on-line subculture that’s usually the dullest spot on-line.
AI slang may be a lot extra evocative. That is why phrases like “hallucination” for a mistake by an AI mannequin or referring to them as digital “copilots” really feel like they’ve endurance. Even one thing so simple as calling AI-generated pictures and movies of doubtful high quality “slop” is at the very least very evocative. Clanker makes it sound like an AI mannequin bought caught in Spirit Halloween, attempting on costumes.
And whereas, after all, Clanker will not be a slur in opposition to any actual individuals, the purpose of the time period within the cartoon is to scale back a sentient enemy into disposable junk. It is supposed to indicate an unpleasant facet of the clone warriors, how they discuss advanced topics within the easiest, ugliest potential approach, with none nuance in any respect.
There are many genuinely pressing issues to say about AI proper now. Questions of infrastructure management, environmental and societal hurt, replication of human bias in AI algorithms, and extra. None of that’s superior by yelling “clanker” into the void.
Language is messy and slang evolves, so I am not demanding the time period be banished with precise enforcement, but when we’re going to invent AI-related vocabulary, I might favor sharper phrases. We will do higher than clanker.
