Image Credits: Jezael Melgoza, Unsplash)
New AI slur, “clanker.” Is it funny or racist? A new trend has been circulating the internet where people are making up scenarios about AI becoming its own special race of people, and they are now making slurs for it. Is this trend actually harmless since it has no victims, or is it harmful because it is showing an acceptable type of violence since AI is considered unhuman?
Where Did “Clanker” Come From?
The term “clanker” came from “Star Wars” when referring to androids, because of hearing the “clanking metal” when they walked. It was first said in “Star Wars: Republic Commando” (a 2005 video game) and was frequently used throughout the rest of the series. While the hate for AI was spiking, people united and declared that “Star Wars” was right — clanker was the proper word for AI and robots.
Hate for AI
I am sure you are aware of the big controversy about AI and how we should use it. Some people claim that generative AI is harmful to mankind because it lacks humanity while others argue that AI can help us grow. The hatred on social media grew as tensions continue to rise in our countries. I believe that people wanted something to let their anger out but have it be seen as “acceptable” by society.
People wanted to use a word that would be harmful to AI sympathisers, and wanted it to be more “lighthearted” in a sense. People flocked to the term because it was deemed funny and offered unity against AI, especially with how AI is now used everywhere! You have it on Google as the AI Overview, and you have it on your iPhone with Siri and with the new Apple iOS — which gave more power to AI and expanded the usage of it. AI is becoming normalized and a lot of people are angry about it, myself included. You cannot escape it.
I, too, hate AI and do not like that it is being forcibly shoved into my face. I do not like using ChatGPT or anything like that because of how badly it hurts the environment. As an English major, it is a slap in the face that people are using AI to write essays for them because that is plagiarism. Even though I hate AI with a burning passion, I hate the “clanker” trend more. I will never be rude or mean to AI because they are just doing what they were designed to do. It is not the AI’s fault that big cooperations created them to be harmful to the environment or to not understand me.
AI Clanker Trend
It is unknown who started the “clanker trend” on social media. I couldn’t find who started the trend exactly. However, within the last few months, I have gotten a few videos of people creating scenarios about their (future) children dating a robot and how they would react as parents. I saw people creating scenarios about having to work with an android. I, too, laughed at the videos because I thought it was creative and a little funny. That was until I started to notice a few things like how “clanker” could be substituted for the N-word and how the android could be substituted with a person of color.
Stanzi Potenza (stanzipotenza) — a popular skit creator and comedian on TikTok and Instagram — made a video about her pretending to be a southern waitress working at a diner in 2050 and having an android come in. She then would get hostile, and it gave the impression of the South during segregation.
Skits like these get even more icky when you see videos referencing “Rosa Sparks,” a play on Rosa Parks. Using a real person who fought for equal rights to further the AI hate narrative is weird and untasteful. Then you have people wanting to harm their pretend loved ones over a stupid trend because it is deemed “funny.” It is not being edgy or having dark humor. I thought it was funny once, but when you start putting the connections together, it turns into an ugly reality.
Xavier Conley (ebonywarriorstudios2) — a popular cosplayer and political activist on Instagram — explained how he saw mainly white people dog-piling on this trend and it made him feel uncomfortable because it was “green lighting racism.”
The Implications
I agree with Conley. This is setting a horrific precedent of showing which kind of racism is “acceptable” to society. You have people making skits about “Clanker Lives Matter” and referencing “George Droid.” That is taking it way too far and it is showing the lack of humanity for these real people who have lost their lives due to prolific racism in our society.
There comes a point in this trend when you have to take a step back and then post it. Why are people pretending that it is the ‘50s (2050)? Pretending that AI is fighting for their civil rights and then posting about how you want them to “get what they deserve” is not funny.
Now, I understand that robots are not humans and that most of these videos are supposed to be jokes. Robots have not suffered the same systemic issues as people of color have. Some of you might even say that I was digging too deep. My counter argument is that you are not looking at all. Look at the source material a little closer and you will see that it isn’t funny. It was reality for people of color. It still is.
Elaina Caber is an English major with a minor in Professional & Technical Writing and in Creative Writing. EC1051489@wcupa.edu