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Clanker (n.) is a derogatory slang term for robots and artificial intelligence, borrowed from the droid insult in Star Wars.
Clanker (n.) is a slur with no victim, borrowing all its swagger from slurs that had plenty.
Clanker (n.) is a playground word for a boardroom decision: the robot didn't take your job, someone gave it away.
Clanker (n.) is an insult that grants the machine exactly the personhood it claims to deny.
Clanker (n.) is yelling at the toaster, except now the toaster writes your emails.
Clanker (n.) is job anxiety with a science-fiction accent.
Merriam-Webster now lists "clanker" as slang: "a derogatory term for robots and AI technology."
Senator Ruben Gallego used "clanker" to promote a 2025 bill requiring call centers to disclose AI and offer a human alternative.
Clanker (n.) is what you mutter after shouting "representative" into the phone and getting another cheerful machine.
In The Clone Wars premiere, a clone trooper shouts "Okay clankers, eat lasers" while firing on battle droids.
"Clanker" appeared in science fiction as early as 1958, in a William Tenn piece, decades before Star Wars used it.