Grok Says Its AI-Generated Model of ‘The Odyssey’ Is ‘Not Traditionally Correct’

You don’t hear the defenders of so-called Western civilization discuss a lot about The Odyssey nowadays.

Possibly that’s as a result of their rabid denunciations of Christopher Nolan’s movie adaptation of Homer’s epic had been buried in an avalanche of cash. The July blockbuster has grossed almost $1.8 billion worldwide, silencing the right-wingers who predicted a large flop because of various casting and deviations from the supply materials.

Maybe the loudest of those preemptive critics was Elon Musk. The world’s richest man spared no vitriol for what he thought-about a desecration of the traditional Greek narrative; 4 days after its launch, he vowed to supply a superior model. “Earlier than this yr ends,” Musk wrote on X, “Grok Think about will make a full-length film of The Odyssey that’s traditionally correct and true to the artwork of Homer.”

A bit of greater than three months later—lengthy after the discourse moved on—the general public lastly has a primary glimpse of what we’d name the Grodyssey, an Odyssey rendered via prompts fed into xAI’s video and picture era mannequin. Relatively than a “full-length film,” it’s a seven-minute “episode” of an apparently ongoing collection, depicting how Odysseus, king of Ithaca, resists a name to warfare towards Troy however is finally compelled by an oath of loyalty to sail there together with his military.

“Odyssey with Grok Think about,” Musk introduced Friday on X when sharing the clip, produced by AI leisure firm Marvel Studios X. The subdued put up obtained simply 18,000 likes, notably much less engagement than different current posts by which Musk forged doubt on the outcomes of Brazil’s elections, complained about pronouns, and disparaged “legacy information.”

Grok’s introductory episode bears many hallmarks of AI slop. The actions of faces don’t match the dialog, which is additional undercut by stilted and unnatural supply. Moreover Odysseus, not one of the principal characters are launched by title, and the pacing points are laughable: The Ithacans arrive on the shores of Troy instantly after leaving their homeland, for instance. Even the blue checks on X had been harsh of their evaluation. “Somebody really watched this and nonetheless determined to put up it?” wrote one person. “Fireplace that particular person.”

However Musk’s acknowledged aim wasn’t to ship a better-looking or extra narratively cohesive model of The Odyssey. He and his tradition warfare comrades dubiously claimed that they had been towards Nolan’s casting of Black and trans actors, the Americanized English spoken by the characters they performed, and numerous designs of ships and armor within the movie as a result of they had been “traditionally inaccurate.” Therefore Musk’s assure of a “traditionally correct” corrective.

So, did Grok Think about succeed on that entrance? Asking Grok for a self-evaluation yields an attention-grabbing reply. “No,” the chatbot says when queried about whether or not this Odyssey snippet is traditionally correct. “Grok Think about’s Episode 1 (and the broader promised collection) is an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, not a traditionally correct reconstruction of actual occasions.”