"Comedian and TikTok star Stanzi Potenza fueled the discussion in late August with a skit roleplaying a Southern waitress. The caption of the now-viral video reads: "POV: you're a clanker in 2050." "Well, well, well, look what the Roomba dragged in," Potenza says in a southern drawl. "Didn't you see the sign outside? We don't serve clankers here." She goes on to call the robots "wirebacks" (a term many say is uncomfortably close to a slur used against Mexicans in the U.S.)"
"and adds: "We don't have none of your oil or microchips or whatever it is you rust buckets eat." The video, which has been viewed nearly a million times, struck many as echoing real racial slurs and stereotypes. "It feels out of touch, taking actual slurs and turning them into silly robot slurs is not...great," one commenter wrote. The skit was also reposted to X, where one user wrote: "roleplaying actual 50s racism with fucking robots is egregious in so so many ways.""
The viral term "clanker" has emerged as an insult for robots, AI systems, and those who rely on them, with searches spiking in early June. A TikTok skit roleplayed a Southern waitress who refuses service to "clankers," uses the term "wirebacks," and mocks robots' supposed need for oil and microchips. The video has drawn nearly a million views and prompted criticism that the skit echoes real racial slurs and 1950s segregationist tropes. Defenders say the skits mock racism itself, while critics call the portrayals insensitive and potentially harmful. Similar sketches have depicted segregated facilities and violence toward robots.
Read at Fast Company
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