Elon Musk has claimed that his generative AI, Grok Imagine, will create a "historically accurate" version of Homer's mythological poem The Odyssey in a year. This came after a Grok user got the AI to make a trailer and a scene using dialogue from the poem, which contained multiple historical inaccuracies.
Musk shared the three-minute clip of the entirely AI generated scene to his own X account and said: "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."
The scene he shared saw AI Odysseus say goodbye to his wife, Penelope, sail to Troy, and briefly fight the Trojans before washing up on the shore of Ogygia, where nymph Calypso lived. Odysseus and Calypso then spend seven years together before he decides to return home to Ithaca.
Criticism of historical accuracy
The clip, which has been viewed over three million times, was praised by several users for being "more historically accurate" than Christopher Nolan's 2026 film. But, most of these users claimed that Nolan's film wasn't historically accurate as Black actress Lupita Nyong'o had been cast as Helen of Troy.
Not only did the clip not include an image of Grok's Helen, the characters it did show did not have historically accurate appearances either. Odysseus featured red hair in his beard, despite being from Ithaca, which was considered to be off the coast of Kefalonia, where it is more common to have brown hair. Likewise, Calypso, if she were real and not a mythical nymph, would not have had blonde hair, given she was from the Mediterranean. One X user shared an image of someone with Greek ethnicity, with dark brown hair and eyes, and wrote that they were "tired of the Nordic, bonde, blue eyed" representations of Greek characters.
Others pointed out that Homer's poem is rooted in mythology and features cyclopses, nymphs and sea monsters, which did not exist in real life. "Historically accurate? You’re aware it’s a mythological poem, right?" one said. Another added: "'Historically accurate.' There is a cyclops."
Reactions to AI filmmaking
Some users added that they did not want AI to be making films. A user wrote: "No thanks. The people want real actors. Use AI to help humanity, not entertain us. Also, humans are allowed to have their own take on a story if it's not historical fact. It's the fun part about being different." Another added: "It’s very important to note here that he did not say it was going to be good." A third posted an image of Homer Simpson and asked if that was the Homer Musk was talking about.
Nolan's The Odyssey
Nolan's version of The Odyssey hit cinemas earlier this month and has been a huge box office success, as it is on track to be the director's highest-grossing film. It has already taken over $250million worldwide. The film stars Matt Damon as the titular character, Tom Holland as his son, Telemachus, Zendaya as goddess Athena, and Anne Hathaway as Odysseus' wife Penelope. Charlize Theron plays Calypso. Nyong'o plays both Helen and her sister Clytemnestra. She was not the only actor to receive backlash after her casting, as Elliot Page was subjected to transphobic abuse online after being cast as Sinon, some of which was reposted by Musk.
