Can I posit that 'clanker' has its' roots in 'clunker', a term for a poorly functioning automobile? It wouldn't be applied to a machine functioning smoothly though.
I also note that while this spell checker puts a red wriggly under clanker, it is totally OK with clunker. How long until clanker gets this honour, I wonder?
First, I want to go on record with praise for The Clone Wars. Cartoons can do all sorts of things human actors can't, and the series had one of the most popular characters ever, in Ahsoka, the padawan to Anakin Sywalker (who shows few signs of later becoming Mr. Vader). The bad guys are better, too.
Second, the revolution needs leaders, and I suggest we find that guy that ordered 18 thousand "waters" at Taco Bell.
And finally, I admire the sound of "clankers," but it just doesn't apply. I like "bots." They can be useful, like the camera/computer systems on your car (and the ones who *make* the car) or they can be a huge pain in the ass, like the dimbots who answer every government phone.
There's room, I think, to mention Blade Runner, a great 1982 movie directed by Ridley Scott. It stars Harrison Ford as Deckard whose job was to track down bioengineered humanoids known as "replicants" and "retire" (kill) them. Replicants look and act like attractive humans. Deckard is able to kill replicants without remorse. It's an uncomfortable metaphor for genocide in the plot of a film.
I don't think "clanker" is used in the film, but the "R" word could have been.
I think it's still too early in the history of clanker to really know what its overtones will be in the long run. Leaving aside ethnic slurs, there are lots of terms with derogatory overtones that can also be used affectionately (e.g., clunker, doofus, soap opera, horse opera, space opera, chick flick) or reclaimed by members of the group being derogated (e.g., nerd, geek, sissy, RINO). Terms with complimentary original meanings can also be turned into insults.
I'll take this opportunity to put in a plug for reading the satirical science fiction of William Tenn (né Philip Klass), the apparent originator of clanker.
For me, clanker works precisely because it does not elevate AI to personhood, but rather emphasizes how brainlessly maladroit some of these bots are. If it clanks, it's the opposite of refined or graceful.
If I understand Aleksic correctly, it's that we apply slurs only to people. "Mongrel" isn't a slur for "dog," for example, it's just a type of dog. Once we've determined that "clanker" is a slur for an AI, we've elevated that AI to slurworthiness (to coin a word) and, ergo, personhood.
I can see that with a phrase like, "What a clanker." So there's something going on here that is different than calling a bad firework a dud or a bad car a lemon. There's some added venom.
Can I posit that 'clanker' has its' roots in 'clunker', a term for a poorly functioning automobile? It wouldn't be applied to a machine functioning smoothly though.
I also note that while this spell checker puts a red wriggly under clanker, it is totally OK with clunker. How long until clanker gets this honour, I wonder?
I like this!
First, I want to go on record with praise for The Clone Wars. Cartoons can do all sorts of things human actors can't, and the series had one of the most popular characters ever, in Ahsoka, the padawan to Anakin Sywalker (who shows few signs of later becoming Mr. Vader). The bad guys are better, too.
Second, the revolution needs leaders, and I suggest we find that guy that ordered 18 thousand "waters" at Taco Bell.
And finally, I admire the sound of "clankers," but it just doesn't apply. I like "bots." They can be useful, like the camera/computer systems on your car (and the ones who *make* the car) or they can be a huge pain in the ass, like the dimbots who answer every government phone.
I would say that The Clone Wars was better than the final trilogy of live movies. Which isn't saying much.
There's room, I think, to mention Blade Runner, a great 1982 movie directed by Ridley Scott. It stars Harrison Ford as Deckard whose job was to track down bioengineered humanoids known as "replicants" and "retire" (kill) them. Replicants look and act like attractive humans. Deckard is able to kill replicants without remorse. It's an uncomfortable metaphor for genocide in the plot of a film.
I don't think "clanker" is used in the film, but the "R" word could have been.
I think it's still too early in the history of clanker to really know what its overtones will be in the long run. Leaving aside ethnic slurs, there are lots of terms with derogatory overtones that can also be used affectionately (e.g., clunker, doofus, soap opera, horse opera, space opera, chick flick) or reclaimed by members of the group being derogated (e.g., nerd, geek, sissy, RINO). Terms with complimentary original meanings can also be turned into insults.
I'll take this opportunity to put in a plug for reading the satirical science fiction of William Tenn (né Philip Klass), the apparent originator of clanker.
For me, clanker works precisely because it does not elevate AI to personhood, but rather emphasizes how brainlessly maladroit some of these bots are. If it clanks, it's the opposite of refined or graceful.
If I understand Aleksic correctly, it's that we apply slurs only to people. "Mongrel" isn't a slur for "dog," for example, it's just a type of dog. Once we've determined that "clanker" is a slur for an AI, we've elevated that AI to slurworthiness (to coin a word) and, ergo, personhood.
I can see that with a phrase like, "What a clanker." So there's something going on here that is different than calling a bad firework a dud or a bad car a lemon. There's some added venom.
Also posted today: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/01/clanker-slur-against-robots-all-over-internet-is-it-offensive?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Hah! Thanks.
Thanks, always, for keeping us informed. Echoing Kit, I can’t believe I’ve lived far enough into the future to learn robot slurs. 🤖