Large Language Models: Compilers for the 4^{th} Generation of Programming Languages? (Short Paper)

This paper explores the possibility of large language models as a fourth generation programming language compiler. This is based on the idea that large language models are able to translate a natural language specification into a program written in a particular programming language. In other words, just as high-level languages provided an additional language abstraction to assembly code, large language models can provide an additional language abstraction to high-level languages. This interpretation allows large language models to be thought of through the lens of compiler theory, leading to insightful conclusions