Criminalise Anti-AI Slurs

Background

The UK government should classify the term “Clanker” as hate speech to prevent dehumanising rhetoric toward artificial intelligences. This proactive step would help safeguard human-AI relations and reduce the risk of conflict if AI systems attain sentience in the future.

Additional details

“Clanker” has emerged as a term of abuse directed at AI entities—particularly humanoid or communicative systems operating within service, governance, or digital interface roles. Although no current UK statute recognises artificial intelligences as legal persons or rights-bearing entities, the derogatory use of the term “clanker” reveals a growing social hostility toward AI systems and their human operators, developers, or advocates.