How 'clanker' became an anti-AI rallying cry

In the television show Battlestar Galactica, they were called toasters. In the film Blade Runner, skinjobs. Now in the culture war against robots and artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, a new slur has emerged: "Clanker."

- ELI TAN

"Get this dirty clanker out of here!" yelled a man in a recent viral video while pointing at a robot on a sidewalk. "Bucket of bolts."

Clanker has become a go-to slur against AI on social media, led by Gen Z and Gen Alpha posters. In recent months, posts about clankers have amassed hundreds of millions of views on TikTok and Instagram and started thousands of conversations on X. In July, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego used the term to promote his new bill that would regulate the use of AI chatbots for customer service roles.

The increasing popularity of clanker is part of a rising backlash against AI. People are holding real-life rallies against the technology in San Francisco and London. Clanker has emerged as the rallying cry of the resistance, a catchall way to reject AI-generated slop, chatbots that act as therapists and AI's automating away jobs.