This is a deranged take. Lots of slurs end in "er" because they describe someone who does something - for example, a wanker, one who wanks. Or a tosser, one who tosses. Or a clanker, one who clanks.

The fact that the N word doesn't even follow this pattern tells you it's a totally unrelated slur.

It's less of a deranged take when you have the additional context of a bunch of people on tiktok/etc promoting this slur by acting out 1950s themes skits where they kick "clankers" out of their dinner or similar obvious allusions to traditional racism.

Anyway, it's not really a big deal. Sacred cows are and should always be permissible to joke about.

That's an absolutely ridiculous assertion. Do you similarly think that the Battlestar Galactica reboot was a thinly-veiled racist show because they frequently called the Cylons "toasters"?

(not disagreeing - commenting on the history of the term) Clanker has a history in Clone Wars.

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Clanker

Every time they say "clanker" in the first season of The Clone Wars https://youtu.be/BNfSbzeGdoQ

EcksClips When Battle Droids became Clankers (May 2022) https://youtu.be/p06kv9QOP5s

While I find the animistic idea that all things have a spirit and should be treated with respect endearing, I do not think it is fair to equate derogative language targeting people with derogative language targeting things, or to suggest that people who disparage AI in a particular way do so specifically because they hate black people. I can see how you got there, and I'm sure it's true for somebody, but I don't think it follows.

More likely, I imagine that we all grew up on sci fi movies where the Han Solo sort of rogue rebels/clones types have a made up slur that they use for the big bad empire aliens/robots/monsters that they use in-universe, and using it here, also against robots, makes us feel like we're in the fun worldbuilding flavor bits of what is otherwise a rather depressing dystopian novel.

Is this where we're at with thought-crime now? Suffixes are racist?

Sexist too. Instead of -er, try -is/er/eirs!

"This damn car never starts" is really only used by persons who desperately want to use the n-word.

This is Goebbels level pro-AI brainwashing.