Wulf's Webden

Ian and I have recently started reading Augustine’s Confessions together in a modern translation by Peter Northcutt. It will take us a while, not just because it is quite a hefty volume but because we only catch up every month or two. However, both of us were feeling excited about the project, having read and discussed the first book of the volume.

I speculated that perhaps Augustine could be called the “Shakespeare of Christianity”. Just like the Bard of Avon had a huge influence on the English language, Augustine has a reputation for making an indelible mark on the development of Christian theology. Reading the work, it seemed remarkably contemporary, in part a testament to Northcutt’s translation but also because people have not changed that much over the last millennia or two and Augustine wrote things that still echo today.

Earlier in the week, I’d been looking at Microsoft’s Co-pilot AI tool, which it seems keen to encourage you to use at every turn. I have my doubts about AI but I spotted there was a “Deep Research” option so I set that off on looking into whether others had used the same turn of phrase. TLDR; it didn’t find any examples of academic or other published material using the phrase although it suggested that there were several ways in which it could be appropriate.

I’m still not entirely trusting of Co-pilot to do research and it’s sycophantic tone makes me more rather than less suspicious. However, perhaps I have managed to come up with a novel idea. I’d be interested both if anyone can suggest any prior art that proves co-pilot missed something obvious or observations from those better informed than me about both Augustine and Shakespeare on whether the comparison is worthwhile or fatuous.