When Achilles Meets AI with Gemini’s Veo 2 🎬
Ever wondered what happens when ancient heroes collide with cutting-edge AI?
I spent the better part of my weekend exploring Google’s latest AI video generator, Veo 2, via the Whisk experiment.
The results?
Let’s just say, even Achilles had his off days.
TL;DR
Using Whisk Animate, I decided to bring my favorite Greek myth—the legendary warrior Achilles—to life, spear in hand, amidst the chaos of Troy.
The visuals were impressive, capturing the essence of the scene with remarkable detail.
However, when it came to the motion, it seemed like Achilles was rehearsing a dance routine rather than engaging in battle.
While Veo 2 showcases significant advancements in AI-generated imagery, creating lifelike animations still requires a fair amount of prompt engineering.
It’s a testament to how far we’ve come—and how far we have to go.
Veo 2
Google introduced Veo 2, its advanced AI-powered video generation model, now accessible to Gemini Advanced and Google One AI Premium subscribers.
Veo 2 enables users to create high-quality, eight-second videos at 720p resolution directly from text prompts.
The model boasts improved understanding of real-world physics and human motion, resulting in more fluid character movements and lifelike visuals. Each generated video includes a SynthID watermark to indicate AI generation.
Whisk Animate—AI Labs
Additionally, Google launched Whisk Animate, a companion tool that transforms static images into video clips using Veo 2. This builds upon the existing Whisk tool for AI image mashups.
Both Veo 2 and Whisk Animate are available globally through Google Labs to eligible subscribers.
These enhancements are part of Google’s ongoing efforts to expand its AI capabilities, providing users with more creative tools for content generation.
How It Works ✅
Whisk Studio
Upload a subject (required).
Upload a scene (required).
Upload a style (optional).
Write a prompt.
Enter the prompt and let Whisk do its thing.
Achilles—Trojan Horse Demo
I gave Veo 2 a little test drive using Whisk over the weekend.
First, I uploaded the pic of Achilles (above) as my initial subject, but ultimately, I decided to refine it using ChatGPT’s image gen model.
ChatGPT Prompt"Achilles on the battlefield throwing a spear during the war at Troy."
Then I provided another pic of the Trojan horse for the scene.
I decided to use an artistic rendering of the Trojan War.
Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts by Henri-Paul Motte
Below is what Whisk generated.
Whisk Prompt"Achilles on the battlefield throwing a spear during the war at Troy."
As you can see from the images above, Whisk generates multiple images that users can subsequently animate.
As a result, it automatically translated my prompt to a system prompt:
A depiction of a large, hollow, wooden horse being moved through a walled city under a blue sky with some wispy clouds. The horse is tan-colored with visible wood grain and has a large opening in its side. In the foreground, an individual with light skin tone and wavy, light brown hair that extends to the shoulders is throwing a silver-colored spear. The individual is wearing stylized ancient armor including a metallic gold chest plate, dark brown segmented skirt, gold bracers and greaves, and brown sandals. A bronze-colored helmet with a high white plume crest and protective cheek pieces is on their head. An orange fabric drape flows behind them. The ground is rough and uneven. High, light brown stone walls with battlements surround the city, and various buildings in similar stone are visible within. A portion of a large wooden gate is to the left. Some figures in ancient Greek or Roman armor are around the wooden horse.
Finally, I clicked animate and watched Whisk work its magic, after entering this animation prompt:
Throw the spear.
The resulting 8s video—as seen on Youtube was underwhelming to say the least.
Summary
When it came to the animation, Achilles didn’t actually throw the spear but rather waved it around, quite awkwardly 🤔
I like how the model animated the soldiers marching towards Achilles (without my instruction); That was pretty cool.
Professional animators might disagree with me: while Imagen 3 creates stunning, high-res images, creating lifelike animations with Veo 2 still requires a fair amount of prompt engineering.
Google. “Generate Videos in Gemini and Whisk with Veo 2.” The Keyword, April 15, 2025.
