Three-eyed Cyclops, Greeks in Roman armor: The 'Odyssey' that won Grok's AI competition – The winning video that makes you laugh

G film suffers from the same defect that characterizes all artificial intelligence creations, while not even in the part of historical accuracy succeeds.

Remember when Elon Musk promised that his artificial intelligence, Grok, would create an "anti-woke", "historically accurate" version of "Odyssey"? Eventually the billionaire set up a whole competition around the idea. And the $100,000 first prize-winning project is, as you might expect, a ridiculous jumble.

The problems are deep and start from the basics

The problems are deep and start from the basics. Cyclops Polyphemus appears with three eyes, a detail that in itself should be sufficient for exclusion. A few shots later, the giant with one eye, according to tradition, has become at least four times larger than before. The rest of the creatures and gods look like they're out of a mobile game. Poseidon emerges from the sea with a visibly cartoonish look and incredible muscles, before crashing his ship Odyssea. and its photorealistic crew of fit men.

Half the dialogues are heard in dramatic whispers at exactly the same rate. The battle scenes are mounted so that the moments of conflict are hidden, just like the second-class movies do with the aging stars of the action.

There are, it is true, some shots here and there that seem quite convincing, if one can overtake their colorless aesthetics. But the "film" suffers from the same tragic flaw that characterizes all artificial intelligence creations: the individual clips never tie into a coherent whole. Nor does it succeed in the part of "historical accuracy". Some of the Greek warriors clearly wear the armor of the Roman legionnaires.

Nevertheless, its creator, Nem Perez, stated that "this is the" Odyssey" as Homer wanted it", calling it "my most elaborate work to date". In a post on X, he said he “pushed” Grok Imagine to its absolute limits to create what he called, in contradictory terms, a “five-minute epic.” As he wrote, what bothered him the most in the recent film adaptation was the omission of the Phaeacians and Princess Nausicaa.

It's unclear if Musk ever saw the winning play. Apparently, he has not responded or republished it, which he has done for other versions of the "Odyssey" made with artificial intelligence.

For those fortunately left out of the case, the tycoon with the fortune of hundreds of billions and crusader of cultural wars spent the summer attacking the transfer of the Homeric epic by Christopher Nolan. His target was the film's multicultural cast, which includes several black women and a transgender actor.

Musk accused Nolan of “desecrating Homer and getting down on his knees to satisfy the woke rules needed to win an Oscar.” That iswhy he swore that "Grok Imagine will make a feature film of the "Odyssey" that will be historically accurate and faithful to the art of Homer".

The feature film is still required. However, the short films highlighted by the competition already make it painfully clear, as Futurism comments, that artificial intelligence video generators, as well as the "directors" who adopt them, are simply not up to the task.

In all the first three entries Odysseus more or less resembles the same guy: a strange fantasy lover of perfection of appearance, something like a bloated Antonio Banderas. If Grok or its users are to blame for this, at this point the distinction may no longer matter.