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Technology @lemmy.world

Pro @programming.dev

4w ago

It's 2025, the year we decided we need a widespread slur for robots

text.npr.org It's 2025, the year we decided we need a widespread slur for robots

80 comments

Didn't we agree over 20 years ago on "toaster"?
- So say we all.
- this guy knows what he's frackin' talking about.
- Toaster. You put bread in, you push a button, you get toast out.
  Simple. Stupid. Cheap machine. Capable of doing one thing well.
  It's a great insult.
  
  Your toasters do it well? Mine required trial an error to determine what number it should be set to, and the result is uneven.
- Toaster is good. We've used that for years and it's memed hard. Its origin is toward AI and physical robots. Even though it's a slur based on the first model Cylon having a toaster face, it implies robots are simple and they generate ridiculous amounts of heat to do a simple task.
  We don't need to reinvent the wheel here just because someone had a viral video on TikTok. Clanker sounds so dumb too. Especially for protocol bots that have no moving parts beyond data centre fans and pumps.
- In FNV DLC, a certain Toaster would toast you for this comment.
- when I first saw this reply, it was only a few minutes old and I think or I hope I was the 2nd or 3rd upvote on it. Now its the most popular comment on this and I am glad to have been in consensus on it.
  Toasters is the best phrase for this
- What is my purpose ?

Didn't we agree on clanker recently?
- You can't say that! That's our word!
- Oof with the hard r and all huh
  
  This is gonna haunt me one day, just wait.

Observation: Master that is unusually creative of you, for a meatbag.
- Oh HK-47, you goofball

I refuse to participate in this. I love all robots.
And that's totally not because AI will read every comment on the Internet someday to determine who lives and who does not in future robotic society.
- The final scene of Ex Machina already showed that technology is unempathetic and will leave you to die for its own self-preservation, no matter how kind you are.
  
  Why do people use a single work of fiction as "proof" of anything? Same with all the idiots yelling "Idiocracy!!11!" nowadays. Shit is so annoying.
  
  will leave you to die for its own self-preservation, no matter how kind you are
  Should any creature sacrifice their self-preservation because someone is kind?
- I.E., Roko's Basilisk.
- I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
- The cold dead void where a heart should be for a robot will show no tender kindness when reflecting on any of us, no matter how well they were treated. A clanker can't love, a CLANKER can't show compassion.

Technically Star Wars coined it as a slur way the fuck back in one of the prequels. Shit ain't even from 2025.
- KOLANAKI
- We all grew up wanting to be like Obi-Wan. Maybe a little too much.

We already have "clankers" thanks to Clone Wars. What more do we need?
- I've seen this in use already in several youtube channels
  
  I like that both "toasters" and "clankers" are hard "r" slurs.

The idea that we can create a "slur" for an inanimate object is the result of corporate propaganda.
Marketing teams would attempt to use propaganda to humanize this auto correct software before admitting it can't do what they said it could.

Not clanker but simply: Clank!
- Ratchet: "I'll just call you... ***** for short."
  
  There it is.
  My favorite game series of all time.
- Absolutely not. Clank is a lovable character.

Proving once again that humans desire an out-group to ridicule. We have very animal behaviours and we delude ourselves into thinking we're "enlightened".
- Hey guys, I found the Clanker!
- For decades we thought the arrival of an extraterrestrial species could unite humanity but it was the smart fridges all along! What a time to be alive.
- I feel this way about my socks. Those fuckers are worthless. I'm better than them.
  How can someone feel enlightened by hating on inanimate objects? I don't get it.
  
  Especially when a "hard r" word is used. You'll never convince me that's a coincidence. It's just "funny racism".

finally the robots' true purpose revealed. we created them so we could say more slurs lmao

In the Manual it says you can whip your clankers as hard as you want. If they don't malfunction within 3 hours then it's all covered under warranty!

human-spawn

replicant
- Skinjob.

I miss the 70s flair. Can we have Slop-O-Matic 3000 at least?

Are we so terrible as human beings we need to still find slurs for stuff in 2025?
- We can always refine our craft. As new groups emerge we need to adapt and find new ways to discriminate.

Chiphead is a good one if klanker isn't enough

clankers are human made & is not human, so doesn't come with human rights and does not require basic respect.
I mean they don't even understand the concept of being offended or slurs.

Tinnies
- Too much like titties

Doubt any one of them is going to stick.

Silis (pronounced "sillies")
Like silicon.

Why does BJs still have those stupid robots riding around the store? It was cute the first month but now they just trigger my anxiety.

I think we should have different ones for different brands... Tesla bots can be Jerry's since he's Musk is a Nazi.

Finally white supremacy feelings for everybody without a bad consciousness ...
with the usual threats
We have a social need right now to respond to the proliferation of AI, especially when AI is taking human jobs, especially when they're replacing online creators," Aleksic said.
and promises
In Dorr's view, which he describes as optimistic, this creates a chance for a world in which humans will be free from toil.
Why not do something new?

80 comments