Think back. Do you remember when Elon Musk threw a bizarre online tantrum, condemning the supposed wokeness in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey—without having seen the film—for casting Elliot Page as Sinon and Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy? As the praise and box-office takings for Nolan’s Odyssey soared, Musk showed that being a good loser is not one of his qualities. He petulantly declared that he could make his own better and more authentic Odyssey on Grok AI. And now he has released the first seven-minute online “episode” to a world that long ago forgot about this claim and didn’t care in the first place.
In Musk’s version, the tale begins with Odysseus—off screen—pretending to be mad to avoid fighting in the Trojan War. Grim-faced Palamedes and Agamemnon are shown testing this ruse by taking his baby boy Telemachus and placing him in the path of a plough in a field; Odysseus instantly rushes to save his child, proving he isn’t mad, and agrees to fight. We see him join the armada, with Penelope and Telemachus (soon to grow into a little boy) left behind. This is effectively a prologue sequence that isn’t in Nolan’s film. The expeditionary force arrives at Troy, and an intertitle tells us we have cut to a flashforward ten years later; the siege is about to escalate into the fake-horse attack.
View image in fullscreen
No passion … an image from the AI-generated Odyssey series made with Grok Imagine
Computer-generated: @Imagine
As ever, the AI footage is ponderous and inert, showing its familiar uncanny-valley stock-footage quality with classical-age Call of Duty graphics. Every single dramatic moment—Odysseus’s fake insanity and his agreeing to fight, taking leave of his family, the hardship and adventure of the sea journey and the climactic decision—is as motiveless and meaningless as shapes moving on a laptop screensaver. The ships are lined up on the sea like a row of high-def Space Invaders. Perhaps the worst thing about it is the deadly audio and digital-robot voice work. Every character speaks in that even, over-emphatic, declamatory tone.
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Who cares? Certainly not Musk. He has no passion to tell us this story, only to win an argument he long ago lost. Perhaps he will now make his Grok AI version of Digger, in which Tom Cruise’s oil baron actually saves the universe by drilling for more and yet more oil. Or maybe he will release his own Grok AI version of You Can See Everything, in which a glassy-eyed Elizabeth Holmes proves her little blood-diagnosis box really does work before she zooms off with Elon in his flying car.
Of course, as we are always being told, AI is continuously improving. With each new episode, this boring and pointless series may look better. But if Elon’s AI-Odyssey has any value at all, it is to underscore a basic truth: nobody believes AI has any artistic merit, only financial merit. In terms of quality, it is a pitiful fraction of the real thing, but a zillionth of a zillionth of a zillionth of the cost. It is time for Elon to make his own inglorious retreat from this phoney AI Dull-yssey.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Elon Musks AI Odyssey Review
1 What is Elon Musks AI Odyssey review
Its a review of Christopher Nolans film The Odyssey written from the perspective of Elon Musks AI and its widely considered dull and pointless
2 Who wrote it
Its presented as the work of an AI in Elon Musks orbit The exact authorship is unclear
3 What is it a review of
Christopher Nolans epic film The Odyssey
4 Why do people call it the dullest most pointless response
Because it adds little insight offers few real opinions and mostly restates obvious things in a flat tone
5 What does AI Odyssey mean here
It refers to an AIgenerated take on The Odyssey not a separate film or product
6 Is it long
Its not especially long but it feels long because its repetitive and low on substance
7 Does it spoil the movie
It references plot points so yes expect some spoilers
8 Whats the main problem with it
It says a lot without saying anything useful no strong analysis no fresh perspective
9 Does it praise the film
Its vaguely positive but never specific enough to be meaningful
10 Does it criticize the film
Barely Any criticism is mild and generic
11 Whats an example of its dullness
Lines like The film is long and has many scenes technically true but pointless
12 Is it funny
No Its not trying to be and it isnt
13 Is it biased toward Musk
It leans flattering toward Musk and his AI ventures which undercuts its credibility as a review
14 Who is it for
Unclear It doesnt serve film fans tech readers or general audiences well
15 Can I skip it
Yes You wont miss anything important
16 Whats a practical tip if I still want to read it
Skim the first few paragraphs the rest repeats the same ideas
17 How does it compare to real reviews of Nolans film
Real reviews offer specific observations and judgments This one stays vague and safe
