Prompting with unified diffs makes GPT-4 write much better code

Unified diffs have been found to improve the coding performance of AI models like GPT-4. Aider, an AI-based paired programming tool, discovered that using unified diffs reduces the tendency for AI systems to write lazy code. By treating coding tasks as structured data meant for machine interpretation, rather than informal human-readable text, AI models become more disciplined and thorough in generating code. Leveraging structured formats like unified diffs can enhance the coding abilities of AI and make it a more reliable and efficient partner for developers.