In a foreseeable evolution, social media users have unearthed a fresh method to convey their discontent with AI and the tech sector’s emphasis on automation by reviving an old slur: clanker.

Initially a pejorative label for battle droids in the Star Wars prequels, clanker has been adapted into a comedic insult aimed at actual robots and the escalating presence of artificial intelligence. Made popular by clone troopers, the term is now employed to ridicule tech elites’ aspirations for an AI-centric future.

The lasting influence of these films on meme culture has transported the term from a galaxy far, far away into modern conversations.

Clanker’s revival is also a response to the excitement surrounding AI from personalities like Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Musk’s ongoing promotion of his humanoid robot, Optimus, exemplifies this. Recently, Musk and Tesla unveiled a retro-style diner in California, where popcorn is served by the Optimus robot. Musk has previously claimed that this robot will ultimately “navigate homes, addressing tasks from laundry to lawn maintenance.”

This doesn’t even account for the various endeavors by tech startups and major corporations like Amazon to engineer humanoid robots that could take over service jobs.

As clanker garners popularity on social media, it has evolved into a channel for darker humor. Individuals are engaging in mock role-playing of robot prejudice, crafting exaggerated posts about anti-clanker attitudes, and envisioning their conduct in an environment dominated by robots.

Naturally, there are those who object to the use of the “c-word,” such as one tweet that reflects on the potential awkwardness of having to clarify to a robot 50 years from now that “it was a different era.”

It’s primarily satire. Nevertheless, it also encapsulates a sincere cultural sentiment: individuals are facing the continual risk of being supplanted by machines and a future that increasingly feels artificial, reacting with memes, mockery, and a borrowed slice of sci-fi terminology.