Elon Musk Slated Over AI-Generated Odyssey Film Claim

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s declaration that his AI company Grok will create its own feature-length adaptation of The Odyssey by the end of the year has been met with widespread derision.

Musk has been among the most vocal critics of Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation of The Odyssey in the lead-up to its release, most notably due to the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen Of Troy and Elliot Page as Sinon.

His hot takes on the film have included branding Nolan an “anti-White racist”, accusing him of “desecrating Homer” and suggesting that the director’s decision to include a diverse cast in his latest film was about winning “awards” after Oscars organisers introduced new measures with regards to movies it nominates (despite the fact that Nolan’s last film Oppenheimer already won Best Picture and Best Director, and Variety’s research indicating that no film nominated for Best Picture in the Oscars’ history would no longer be eligible under the new guidelines).

Forbes has also reported that Musk has boosted posts on the social media site he owns, X, which criticise Nolan, while some of his own messages have included misinformation.

On Wednesday, Musk doubled down on his criticism of The Odyssey, after scenes generated by Grok inspired by the original text were shared on X.

“Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” he told his followers.

Musk’s comments were pretty quickly picked apart online, with many suggesting that the popularity of The Odyssey since its release last week suggests that audiences wouldn’t exactly be up for watching the whole thing, in inferior AI form…

Others also questioned how “historically accurate” a story featuring gods and monsters could ever really be…

For his part, Nolan has chosen not to address the right-wing critics of his film, but he has previously spoken enthusiastically about Nyong’o’s casting, insisting that she had always been his first pick for the role of Helen Of Troy.

“The strength and the poise were so important to the character of Helen,” he previously told Elle. “And Lupita makes it look effortless.

“I’m sure there’s a tremendous amount of discipline and training that goes into projecting that kind of poise and feeling the emotion bubbling beneath the character, the layers of the character right there underneath. She’s just an incredible person to work with, and I was absolutely desperate for her to do the part.”

He has previously voiced his disdain at the idea of AI-generated art, telling The Telegraph: “I’ve never seen a more rapid wholesale dismissal of a supposedly foundational jump in technology in my lifetime. So much energy has been expended on bringing in AI, but if you look at [the younger] generation’s reaction, they’re utterly rejecting it.”

He added: “Their judgment of AI slop has been immediate and harsh. They see it for what it is very quickly – and it’s much easier for them to identify it, because it grew out of an online world they know really well.

“And while that doesn’t mean that every aspect of the technology is useless or meaningless, in film-making it’s hitting at exactly the wrong time. After years of driving towards heavily virtual environments, we’re seeing a renewed interest in more tactile, more real forms of storytelling.”