# Reduced String Copies and AI

> Source: <https://www.dotnetperls.com/2026_8_6_reduced-string-copies-ai>
> Published: 2026-08-06 07:00:00+00:00

In my **Rust program** I have code that tries to **normalize** the arguments passed into it. The idea is that if an AI calls my function, I want the function call to **succeed** even if it **makes a mistake** in the syntax.

I had repeated string `replace`

calls, and to normalize the `name`

parameter about 5 passes were done, and 5 copies or more were made of the string. This is not a big performance issue, as it is **only done once** per tool call.

In former times, I would have **written my own** zero-copy functions to improve **performance**. Today I used an online AI (Microsoft Copilot) and prompted it to "optimize this Rust function" along with some pasted text.

It did pretty well. I **eliminated multiple copies** of strings in always-run paths in my program. It seems **programming** has **changed a lot** these days—instead of writing one's own functions, one has them written based on a prompt. I don't know if this is good or bad, but my strings are copied less now.