8 ms·
Setting aside the history of anthropomorphism of robots using this term: https://sfdictionary.com/view/3048/clanker https://sfdictionary.com/view/3048/clanker
by its-summertime 5mo ago
Setting aside the history of anthropomorphism of robots using this term: https://sfdictionary.com/view/3048/clanker https://sfdictionary.com/view/3048/clanker
A clanker doesn't clank? It feels more like an emotional name — a pet name or derogatory name — as opposed to a name that evokes a tool-like view of the thing. A typer? an autocompleter? auto-sed? LLM? All probably would have less emotional feeling to it due to being rooted in the actions performed.
- adrian_b 5mo agoFor me, "clanker" sounds funny, not derogatory. In the same way, for me "meatbag" sounds too funny to be an insult. On the other hand "robot" sounds derogatory for me, as it etymologically suggests a slave who does forced work. The oldest known term for "robots" was used by Homer in the Iliad, for the metallic (female) robots used by Hephaestus to do his work, and it was "amphipoloi", which is cognate with Latin "ancillae", which also means "servants" or "slaves", like the modern "robots".