The word, once confined to Star Wars lore where it was used against battle droids, has become the latest insult aimed at robots and AI chatbots. In a viral video, a man shouted, “Get this dirty clanker out of here!” at a sidewalk robot, echoing a sentiment spreading rapidly across social platforms.
Posts using the term have exploded on TikTok, Instagram, and X, amassing hundreds of millions of views. Beyond online humor, “clanker” has been adopted in real-world debates. Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego even used the word while promoting his bill to regulate AI-driven customer service bots. For critics, it has become a rallying cry against automation, generative AI content, and the displacement of human jobs.
Anti-AI protests in San Francisco and London have also adopted the phrase as a unifying slogan. “It’s still early, but people are really beginning to see the negative impacts,” said protest organizer Sam Kirchner, who recently led a demonstration outside OpenAI’s headquarters.
While often used humorously, the word reflects genuine frustration. Jay Pinkert, a marketing manager in Austin, admits he tells ChatGPT to “stop being a clanker” when it fails to answer him properly. For him, the insult feels like a way to channel human irritation toward a machine that increasingly behaves like one of us.
The term’s evolution highlights how quickly internet culture reshapes language. According to etymologist Adam Aleksic, clanker gained traction this year after online users sought a new word to push back against AI. “People wanted a way to lash out,” he said. “Now the word is everywhere.”
Not everyone is comfortable with the trend. On Reddit and Star Wars forums, debates continue over whether it is ethical to use derogatory terms, even against machines. Some argue it echoes real-world slurs, while others worry about the long-term implications if AI achieves advanced intelligence. Culture writer Hajin Yoo cautioned that the word’s playful edge risks normalizing harmful language patterns.
Still, the viral momentum shows little sign of slowing. Popular TikTok skits depict a future where robots, labeled clankers, are treated as second-class citizens in human society. For now, the term embodies both the humor and unease shaping public attitudes toward AI, capturing how deeply the technology has entered cultural debates.
