Grok releases “The Odyssey” and faces ridicule

A seven-minute episode of “The Odyssey” created with Grok Imagine has been mocked for its formulaic approach and weak storytelling. Amid the success of Nolan’s film, Musk had previously criticized its casting and promised historical accuracy.

Grok releases a seven-minute episode of “The Odyssey”

Following the success of Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey,” Elon Musk said Grok would create a feature-length version of the poem using AI. The first result was a short video: on October 23, Grok Imagine published a seven-minute clip, calling it “Episode 1 of our Grok Imagine-generated Odyssey series.”

The post also invited viewers to comment if they wanted to see a detailed breakdown of the creative process. The project was made in creative collaboration with Wonder Studios X and director Dev Walker, known as @glumlot_.

Musk promised that Grok’s version would be historically accurate and faithful to Homer’s art. The statement came after he criticized the casting in Nolan’s film: Elliot Page played Sinon, and Lupita Nyong'o played Helen of Troy. Musk accused the director of “desecrating Homer and groveling just to conform to the DEI rules needed to win an Oscar.”

However, Nolan’s film drew large audiences to theaters. Shot entirely on IMAX cameras, the movie was released in July and is still in theaters. According to available figures, its worldwide box office gross is approaching $1.8 billion.

Early reactions to Grok’s version are a far cry from the film’s success. The clip has been widely mocked. One commenter named Gabe wrote that the video “perfectly reflects Elon’s taste. Complete shit.” Pavel Buderaski wondered why the characters speak English if the project is supposed to be historically accurate.

Digital Trends noted that the characters gaze into the distance as the music emphasizes the importance of the moment, but the scenes end before the characters can convey their emotional significance. Critics also pointed out that all the characters in the clip are white, and Odysseus is hard to distinguish from the many generic men who look like ancient Greeks. Digital Trends also compared Penelope to the familiar Instagram-filtered beauty who has been asked to look worried.

Nolan has largely stayed out of the cultural debates surrounding the film. The British director, known for his skepticism toward technology, compared artificial intelligence to the Trojan horse in the story. In an interview with HugoDécrypte, reported by The Independent, he said: “I think AI is a Trojan horse with Greeks hidden inside, as everyone knows. The horse is transparent, made of glass. Everyone can see what’s going on inside.”