Vibe Coding: The Promise and Perils of AI-Assisted Software Development

What is vibe coding, should you be doing it, and does it matter?

The rise of large language models like ChatGPT that can churn out computer code has led to a new term - vibe coding - for people who create software by asking AI to do it for them Want to write software, but haven't got the first clue where to start? Enter "vibe coding", a term that has swept the internet to describe the use of AI tools, including large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, to generate computer code with little experience. "Vibe coding basically refers to using generative AI not just to assist with coding but to generate the entire code for an app," says Noah Giansiracusa at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts. Users ask LLM-based models like ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot to produce the code for an app or service, and the AI system does all the work. The term was coined by Andrej Karpathy, a skilled software engineer who was head of AI at Tesla and a founding engineer at OpenAI - the makers of ChatGPT. In February 2025, he posted on X about a "new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding'". Karpathy described it as "where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists". The term was born, and the idea took hold. "That captured a moment that resonated with so many people, because there's a whole bunch of people who are non-programmers who are starting to play with LLMs, writing code and getting amazing results out of them," says Simon Willison, a software developer. Software engineering can be a tricky thing to learn - and as a result, many people don't bother. Vibe coding can help people with ideas for tools, apps and services to bring them to reality without the challenge of learning the specifics of a programming language. "On the one hand it's a gamechanger, because a lot of people are vibe coding, and over the course of a few prompting cycles you can get something that's amazing and something that - for people who can't program - it's better than anything they could do on their own," says Matt Wood at Northumbria University, UK. But it can also cause incomplete, error-strewn software, he adds. Opinion is split. "You've got all these people on LinkedIn and Twitter making outrageous claims that nobody needs to learn to program anymore," says Willison, who believes that its overstating the power of vibe coding. "My sense is that this is a promising direction that will get a lot better and that we'll see a lot more of in the near future, but at present it's a bit limited and has some reliability issues," says Giansiracusa. The code produced can often be buggy, and because the people prompting it don't have the inherent knowledge to fix it, they're overly reliant on the same LLMs that made the errors to fix them. One of the big claims about AI is its ability to disrupt jobs. But there is little evidence that vibe coding will replace software engineers - despite some social media boasts. "It's not going to replace programmers," says Wood. "I feel like the job of a software engineer is to produce software that works," says Willison. "One of the reasons I don't think we're going to be put out of our jobs by these systems is actually, a huge amount of the work that we do with software engineers have nothing to do with typing the code."

10 professional developers on the true promise and peril of vibe coding

The internet (and especially my inbox) has been awash with buzz about vibe coding. Vibe coding, if you've been living under a rock for the past few weeks, is the practice of letting an AI guide your coding while you sit back, drink coffee, watch YouTube videos, and play Cities: Skylines 2, all while taking to Reddit and sharing your opinion on the ranking of Star Wars vs. Star Trek vs. Stargate. For the record, it's Stargate, then Star Trek, then Star Wars, but I digress. Seriously, vibe coding was a term coined by a former OpenAI founder and master programmer who waxed poetic about using an AI to do a lot of his coding's more prosaic work. I went into substantial depth about that post and the definition of vibe coding in my previous article on the topic. Also: 10 key reasons AI went mainstream overnight - and what happens next The term, though, is sticky as heck. By sticky, I mean that it resonated enough to be both cool on its own and be an immediate adjective that marketing folks can attach to their coding tools, making those tools immediately sound a notch cooler than they were on their own. I know, because as an AI columnist, I get press releases. I get a lot of press releases. A metric-f-ton of press releases, each and every day. Unfortunately, the marketing folks who wasted no time adopting the term and vibe-washing their products seem to be applying the vibe-coding moniker to the exact opposite of what it means. Remember, the term was coined by a master programmer who could very easily decide what's appropriate for an AI (and fix it, if it goes wrong). It was not intended for a newbie who wants to type a two-sentence prompt and make a couple of million dollars off the app that results from that mere moment of mental mathematics. But suddenly, all the so-called no-code and low-code AI development tools (which are basically templates dressed up in AI-painted robes) are claiming they are vibe coding innovators. As a long-time developer myself and former computer science professor, I shared my opinion on vibe coding in my article last week. But I'm cranky, crotchety, sarcastic, and snarky. I know, how could you possibly tell from my writing? Also: The best AI for coding (and what not to use) So rather than just leaving you with my opinion, I decided to reach out to real professional developers and ask their opinions. As you're about to see, some like the concept and say that AIs are saving them a ton of time, but most are concerned that non-pro developers and junior coders might miss important coding considerations and thereby produce code that's somewhere on the spectrum from junk to janky to downright dangerous. He shared with ZDNET, "Vibe coding changes how we build, but not why we build. The goal isn't to produce more software; it's to create better software experiences. Without a clear understanding of user needs, vibe coding risks amplifying misalignment at scale." Olson continued, "AI makes it easier to ship code, but that doesn't guarantee better outcomes. Without clear alignment to user needs, vibe coding can accelerate the creation of software no one uses. This isn't a new challenge, necessarily, but AI raises the stakes." Also: How to use ChatGPT to write code - and my favorite trick to debug what it generates He told ZDNET, "The most important thing for me about vibe coding is that there needs to be a human operator who is actually smarter than the computer. One of the problems of using LLMs for development is they make stuff up that sounds feasible, and they only do deeper research or consider things like security or best practices if prompted." He points out how having limited experience as a developer could prove a challenge when asking an AI to write software, saying, "So, if you're just an average power user without any development experience, you could absolutely get AI to build you a cool thing that looks and acts the way you want, but if you don't know how any of it works, when it has issues or bugs or whatever, you can find yourself deeper and deeper in the rabbit hole." I love his comments about robots running wild: "Vibe coding absolutely needs the human component. You can't just let the robots run wild without checking what it's doing, or you'll absolutely get yourself into trouble." Jamie told me, "We're entering a new era where the web becomes a canvas for dynamic, app-like experiences. As AI, no-code tools, and automation remove technical barriers, creators of all kinds are free to build richer, more interactive digital worlds. The lines between websites and apps are blurring -- and with it comes a surge of creativity that redefines what's possible online." He also shared a YouTube video he posted where he uses AI to "vibe code" a front end to a website. It's fascinating, but keep in mind, this is a veteran developer instructing the AI. Someone completely new to web development might not have the vocabulary or experience to give the level of direction Jamie does. He told me, "In tech, vibe coding is all about working with AI in a fluid, intuitive way, letting it handle the repetitive stuff so developers can focus on creative problem-solving. But vibe coding isn't just for coders. It's also about creating with AI even if you don't know how to write code. It's about removing barriers, making technology accessible, and allowing anyone to build something meaningful. So why aren't we applying that same mindset to learning?" "Vibe coding is proof that AI isn't here to replace creativity -- it's here to unlock it. It turns coding from a technical skill into a creative collaboration, where anyone with an idea can bring it to life." Salak extends the idea of vibe coding into learning overall. There's something to be said for the lower stress, higher interactivity idea that vibe coding promotes. He says, "Imagine if learning worked the same way, where students weren't just consumers of information but creators, shaping their education in real-time with AI as their guide." "Just like AI is transforming coding, it's time for AI to transform learning. Less memorization, more creativity. Less pressure, more discovery. The future of education isn't one-size-fits-all. It's personalized, powerful, and finally built for the student (and the teacher, too)." I do like the idea of AI providing more interactivity in our activities, but as with coding, where we've seen how AIs can generate terrible code, any learning-related activities will need to have substantial guardrails and quality checks. I'm not sure we're ready to unleash students (or newbie coders) into the AI world (and its relatively common hallucinations) without some professional supervision. Aikido is a security company with the best tagline I've seen in a while: "No bullshit security for developers." Delbare doesn't pull any punches about vibe coding, telling ZDNET, "Vibe coding makes software development more accessible, but it also creates a perfect storm of security risks that even experienced developers aren't equipped to handle. SQL injections, path traversal, hardcoded secrets. Many developers consider security a blind spot, so imagine the risks when going from a simple landing page build to a full-fledged product handling user data." He continues, "It is incredibly easy for AI to write vulnerable code, and vibe coders often don't know what they don't know. When you're collecting user data or handling sensitive information, you need more than just good vibes. Ideally, security isn't an afterthought that ruins the fun; you need to learn the risks and set up security checks so you can keep building without your users becoming collateral damage." Then he made a very valid point about supercharging risk. He emailed me with, "Sure, Gen AI supercharges development, but it also supercharges risk. Two engineers can now churn out the same amount of insecure, unmaintainable code as 50 engineers." Also: Why OpenAI's new AI agent tools could change how you code He echoes some of the security and support concerns we've been talking about. He says, "Vibe coding represents a fascinating shift in software development by demonstrating how AI tools can democratize coding. While it enables newcomers to build applications without traditional programming experience, it also highlights a crucial reality: without fundamental software development knowledge, security and performance suffer." Katz says vibe coding has been a game changer. He told ZDNET, "Vibe coding has dramatically accelerated our product development process. Ideas that sat in our backlog for years have come to life in just a week, thanks to AI. I can generate a working prototype of new functionality in a single day -- far faster than starting from scratch. From there, we refine, restructure, and test the code, cutting down development time significantly." Then, he provided an example, saying, "In a recent AI-powered session, I entered the requirements for a new product, switched back to my other work, and checked back a few minutes later. Within 20 minutes, I had a functional prototype ready for refinement and testing. AI has been a game-changer in our ability to quickly deliver features that customers want, and vibe coding has proven to be my go-to approach for rapidly building MVPs." Losoviz also believes vibe coding can reduce time to market. He told me, "I'm currently integrating my plugin Gato GraphQL to use vibe coding to create extensions, with the goal of creating all the extensions that my customers are demanding in a couple of weeks (normally it'd take a few months)." Campbell has both positive and negative thoughts about vibe coding. He told ZDNET, "Vibe coding is set to revolutionize software development by making developers more efficient and enabling individuals with limited technical expertise to expand their access to software tools." Also: Google just made AI coding assistance free for everyone - with very generous limits But there are concerns. He says, "Just like a teenager experiencing the thrill of driving for the first time, that freedom would quickly turn to chaos without traffic laws, safety features, and guardrails." He echoes Delbare's thoughts about accelerating risk. Campbell says, "Vibe coding accelerates development and removes the need for deep technical knowledge of tools or techniques, but at the cost of a near-total lack of system understanding. Because vibe coding inherently disregards code details, it becomes almost impossible to assess the security risks in the software being developed." Campbell says he thinks the gap between vibe coding and production coding will continue to narrow. But for now, "Vibe coding today excels at creating 'web toys' -- personal tools with a narrow focus and minimal security concerns -- without the stakes and risks of deploying them in a production environment." He reported to ZDNET, "I think vibe coding is a phrase invented by people who think that AI-generated code is safe and secure, and want to position themselves in a market they maybe shouldn't be in. Every single vibe coding project I've seen has been insecure, not able to answer a use case, or just emulating better things that exist already." He, too, shares the security and optimization codes mentioned by most of the other developers we spoke to. He says, "AI can be useful for coding, but getting AI to write out large swathes of code means the code is tending towards being insecure or unoptimized. Ask your AI assistant to fix small problems with well-defined tasks, and it works well. Similarly, to fix problems in your code. Always review, as if you don't understand your code, who will?" Some developers have seen rapid improvements in coding time using AI development tools. I'm on record as saying that "I am fairly convinced it has doubled my programming output. In other words, I've gotten twice as much done by using ChatGPT as part of my toolkit." But was that vibe coding? It's true that I let the AI code some of the more tedious tasks that involved common programming language, saving me hours. But did I just "wing it" and let the AI do whatever it wanted? Oh, hell no. I tested every single call, every input, and every output. Also: How to turn ChatGPT into your AI coding power tool - and double your output Vibe coding, for a very experienced developer, is kind of like being in a flow state. A lot of work can be accomplished by being in flow. But the prevailing opinion amongst nearly all the developers here is that (a) vibe coding is not for newbies, and (b) vibe coding could leave some problematic security and reliability problems. I don't think the idea of vibe coding, on its own, is a problem. But I would recommend keeping your bullcrap detector on full power, because marketing folks are seizing on the stickiness of the term to claim that newbies can do no-code projects with alacrity. The problem with low-code and no-code will remain as it's always been: for customizing pre-built scenarios, the low-code and no-code tools work fairly well. But if the code you need doesn't fit the scenarios (or templates) provided, you're going to have to whip out that programming knowledge and write code like you know what you're doing. Also: If ChatGPT produces AI-generated code for your app, who does it really belong to? If you can't do that, you're going to run into brick walls or ship products that will fail in very day-ruining ways. What about you? Have you tried vibe coding yourself, or are you still on the fence about letting AI take the lead in your development process? Do you think AI-powered tools truly lower the barrier to entry for newcomers, or do they just make it easier to create insecure, unmaintainable software? Are you more excited by the creative possibilities or concerned about the risks? Let us know in the comments below.

10 professional developers on vibe coding's true promise and peril

The internet (and especially my inbox) has been awash with buzz about vibe coding, a term coined by a former OpenAI founder and master programmer who waxed poetic about using an AI to do a lot of his coding's more prosaic work. I went into substantial depth about that post and the definition of vibe coding in my previous article on the topic. Also: 10 key reasons AI went mainstream overnight - and what happens next The term, though, is sticky as heck. By sticky, I mean that it resonated enough to be both cool on its own and be an immediate adjective that marketing folks can attach to their coding tools, making those tools immediately sound a notch cooler than they were on their own. I know, because as an AI columnist, I get press releases. I get a lot of press releases. Unfortunately, the marketing folks who wasted no time adopting the term and vibe-washing their products seem to be applying the vibe-coding moniker to the exact opposite of what it means. Remember, the term was coined by a master programmer who could very easily decide what's appropriate for an AI (and fix it, if it goes wrong). It was not intended for a newbie who wants to type a two-sentence prompt and make a couple of million dollars off the app that results from that mere moment of mental mathematics. But suddenly, all the so-called no-code and low-code AI development tools (which are basically templates dressed up in AI-painted robes) are claiming they are vibe coding innovators. As a long-time developer myself and former computer science professor, I shared my opinion on vibe coding in my article last week. But I'm cranky, crotchety, sarcastic, and snarky. I know, how could you possibly tell from my writing? Also: The best AI for coding (and what not to use) So rather than just leaving you with my opinion, I decided to reach out to real professional developers and ask their opinions. As you're about to see, some like the concept and say that AIs are saving them a ton of time, but most are concerned that non-pro developers and junior coders might miss important coding considerations and thereby produce code that's somewhere on the spectrum from junk to janky to downright dangerous. He shared with ZDNET, "Vibe coding changes how we build, but not why we build. The goal isn't to produce more software; it's to create better software experiences. Without a clear understanding of user needs, vibe coding risks amplifying misalignment at scale." Also: How to use ChatGPT to write code - and my favorite trick to debug what it generates Olson continued, "AI makes it easier to ship code, but that doesn't guarantee better outcomes. Without clear alignment to user needs, vibe coding can accelerate the creation of software no one uses. This isn't a new challenge, necessarily, but AI raises the stakes." He told ZDNET, "The most important thing for me about vibe coding is that there needs to be a human operator who is actually smarter than the computer. One of the problems of using LLMs for development is they make stuff up that sounds feasible, and they only do deeper research or consider things like security or best practices if prompted." He pointed out how having limited experience as a developer could prove a challenge when asking an AI to write software, saying, "So, if you're just an average power user without any development experience, you could absolutely get AI to build you a cool thing that looks and acts the way you want, but if you don't know how any of it works, when it has issues or bugs or whatever, you can find yourself deeper and deeper in the rabbit hole." I love his comments about robots running wild: "Vibe coding absolutely needs the human component. You can't just let the robots run wild without checking what it's doing, or you'll absolutely get yourself into trouble." Jamie told me, "We're entering a new era where the web becomes a canvas for dynamic, app-like experiences. As AI, no-code tools, and automation remove technical barriers, creators of all kinds are free to build richer, more interactive digital worlds. The lines between websites and apps are blurring -- and with it comes a surge of creativity that redefines what's possible online." He also shared a YouTube video he posted where he uses AI to "vibe code" a front end to a website. It's fascinating, but keep in mind, this is a veteran developer instructing the AI. Someone completely new to web development might not have the vocabulary or experience to give the level of direction Jamie does. He told me, "In tech, vibe coding is all about working with AI in a fluid, intuitive way, letting it handle the repetitive stuff so developers can focus on creative problem-solving. But vibe coding isn't just for coders. It's also about creating with AI even if you don't know how to write code. It's about removing barriers, making technology accessible, and allowing anyone to build something meaningful. So why aren't we applying that same mindset to learning?" "Vibe coding is proof that AI isn't here to replace creativity -- it's here to unlock it. It turns coding from a technical skill into a creative collaboration, where anyone with an idea can bring it to life." Salak extended the idea of vibe coding into learning overall. There's something to be said for the lower stress, higher interactivity idea that vibe coding promotes. He said, "Imagine if learning worked the same way, where students weren't just consumers of information but creators, shaping their education in real-time with AI as their guide." "Just like AI is transforming coding, it's time for AI to transform learning. Less memorization, more creativity. Less pressure, more discovery. The future of education isn't one-size-fits-all. It's personalized, powerful, and finally built for the student (and the teacher, too)." I do like the idea of AI providing more interactivity in our activities, but as with coding, where we've seen how AIs can generate terrible code, any learning-related activities will need to have substantial guardrails and quality checks. I'm not sure we're ready to unleash students (or newbie coders) into the AI world (and its relatively common hallucinations) without some professional supervision. Aikido is a security company with the best tagline I've seen in a while: "No bullshit security for developers." Delbare doesn't pull any punches about vibe coding, telling ZDNET, "Vibe coding makes software development more accessible, but it also creates a perfect storm of security risks that even experienced developers aren't equipped to handle. SQL injections, path traversal, hardcoded secrets. Many developers consider security a blind spot, so imagine the risks when going from a simple landing page build to a full-fledged product handling user data." He continued, "It is incredibly easy for AI to write vulnerable code, and vibe coders often don't know what they don't know. When you're collecting user data or handling sensitive information, you need more than just good vibes. Ideally, security isn't an afterthought that ruins the fun; you need to learn the risks and set up security checks so you can keep building without your users becoming collateral damage." Also: Why OpenAI's new AI agent tools could change how you code Then he made a very valid point about supercharging risk. He emailed me with, "Sure, Gen AI supercharges development, but it also supercharges risk. Two engineers can now churn out the same amount of insecure, unmaintainable code as 50 engineers." He echoed some of the security and support concerns we've been talking about. He said, "Vibe coding represents a fascinating shift in software development by demonstrating how AI tools can democratize coding. While it enables newcomers to build applications without traditional programming experience, it also highlights a crucial reality: without fundamental software development knowledge, security and performance suffer." Katz said vibe coding has been a game changer. He told ZDNET, "Vibe coding has dramatically accelerated our product development process. Ideas that sat in our backlog for years have come to life in just a week, thanks to AI. I can generate a working prototype of new functionality in a single day -- far faster than starting from scratch. From there, we refine, restructure, and test the code, cutting down development time significantly." Then, he provided an example: "In a recent AI-powered session, I entered the requirements for a new product, switched back to my other work, and checked back a few minutes later. Within 20 minutes, I had a functional prototype ready for refinement and testing. AI has been a game-changer in our ability to quickly deliver features that customers want, and vibe coding has proven to be my go-to approach for rapidly building MVPs." Losoviz also believes vibe coding can reduce time to market. He told me, "I'm currently integrating my plugin Gato GraphQL to use vibe coding to create extensions, with the goal of creating all the extensions that my customers are demanding in a couple of weeks (normally it'd take a few months)." Campbell has both positive and negative thoughts about vibe coding. He told ZDNET, "Vibe coding is set to revolutionize software development by making developers more efficient and enabling individuals with limited technical expertise to expand their access to software tools." Also: Google just made AI coding assistance free for everyone - with very generous limits But there are concerns. He said, "Just like a teenager experiencing the thrill of driving for the first time, that freedom would quickly turn to chaos without traffic laws, safety features, and guardrails." He echoed Delbare's thoughts about accelerating risk. Campbell said, "Vibe coding accelerates development and removes the need for deep technical knowledge of tools or techniques, but at the cost of a near-total lack of system understanding. Because vibe coding inherently disregards code details, it becomes almost impossible to assess the security risks in the software being developed." Campbell said he thinks the gap between vibe coding and production coding will continue to narrow. But for now, "Vibe coding today excels at creating 'web toys' -- personal tools with a narrow focus and minimal security concerns -- without the stakes and risks of deploying them in a production environment." He reported to ZDNET, "I think vibe coding is a phrase invented by people who think that AI-generated code is safe and secure, and want to position themselves in a market they maybe shouldn't be in. Every single vibe coding project I've seen has been insecure, not able to answer a use case, or just emulating better things that exist already." He, too, shared the security and optimization codes mentioned by most of the other developers I spoke to. He said, "AI can be useful for coding, but getting AI to write out large swathes of code means the code is tending towards being insecure or unoptimized. Ask your AI assistant to fix small problems with well-defined tasks, and it works well. Similarly, to fix problems in your code. Always review, as if you don't understand your code, who will?" Some developers have seen rapid improvements in coding time using AI development tools. I'm on record as saying that "I am fairly convinced it has doubled my programming output. In other words, I've gotten twice as much done by using ChatGPT as part of my toolkit." But was that vibe coding? It's true that I let the AI code some of the more tedious tasks that involved common programming language, saving me hours. But did I just "wing it" and let the AI do whatever it wanted? Oh, hell no. I tested every single call, every input, and every output. Also: How to turn ChatGPT into your AI coding power tool - and double your output Vibe coding, for a very experienced developer, is kind of like being in a flow state. A lot of work can be accomplished by being in flow. But the prevailing opinion amongst nearly all the developers here is that (a) vibe coding is not for newbies, and (b) vibe coding could leave some problematic security and reliability problems. I don't think the idea of vibe coding, on its own, is a problem. But I would recommend keeping your bullcrap detector on full power, because marketing folks are seizing on the stickiness of the term to claim that newbies can do no-code projects with alacrity. The problem with low-code and no-code will remain as it's always been: for customizing pre-built scenarios, the low-code and no-code tools work fairly well. But if the code you need doesn't fit the scenarios (or templates) provided, you're going to have to whip out that programming knowledge and write code like you know what you're doing. Also: If ChatGPT produces AI-generated code for your app, who does it really belong to? If you can't do that, you're going to run into brick walls or ship products that will fail in very day-ruining ways. What about you? Have you tried vibe coding yourself, or are you still on the fence about letting AI take the lead in your development process? Do you think AI-powered tools truly lower the barrier to entry for newcomers, or do they just make it easier to create insecure, unmaintainable software? Are you more excited by the creative possibilities or concerned about the risks? Let me know in the comments below.

What Is Vibe Coding and Why Is It Risky?

Summary Vibe coding allows anyone to create software without understanding code, eliminating barriers to entry. Vibe-coded apps pose risks due to potential quality and cybersecurity issues AI may miss. Large Language Models require human supervision due to potential inaccuracies in code generation. Anyone can learn to code, but coding is hard. Thanks to the power of AI, you can just get a chatbot to write the code for you, but is that a good idea? Welcome to the world of "vibe coding," where anyone can make software, and it doesn't matter if you don't actually understand the code itself. Is that awesome, or is it actually a huge problem? What Exactly Is "Vibe Coding" The term "vibe coding" is essentially slang for creating computer software code by simply telling an AI what you want the code to do, and the software spitting it out for you. Then you compile the code, run the app, and if everything looks good you call it a day and share your software. It's not about exact technical knowledge, but about the "vibe" you're going for, I guess. In other words, people who do vibe coding are effectively still in the position of a client explaining to a software developer what they want. It's just that they've replaced the human software developer with an AI. Related Beginner Coding in Python: Building the Simplest AI Chat Companion Possible You've probably heard of ChatGPT, but what about building a simple chatbot companion of your own? Posts 1 More People Are Creating Software With AI. That's Good, Right? While the messaging of "learn to code" has been loudly spread around for years now, the truth is that while lots of people would like to create software, they have neither the time to learn, nor the resources to hire someone who can code. So that's a sizable number of people who have ideas for apps or other software, but with no way to make them a reality. So from one perspective, vibe coding is pretty awesome. It means that, just like AI image generation, the barrier to entry has been dropped through the floor for something that would usually take years of practice and study to do. You could make the argument that this is a democratization of software creation. It also falls roughly in the line with the development of programming over the decades. In the beginning, programmers had to work in raw machine code, and then in Assembly language, which is easier for humans to understand, but still pretty close to machine code in function. Related What Came Before Windows? What did people use in the before-times? Posts 45 Later, high-level coding languages struck a middle ground between something that could be translated easily to machine code and a human language like English. Languages like C or Python might seem cryptic at first glance, but they have syntax much closer to the human side of the spectrum and represent a huge leap in how easy it is to make software. So, you could see vibe coding as the natural evolution of translating from human to machine language, which is a lovely idea in theory, but presents some problems. Related Can You Practically Learn to Code With ChatGPT? You can learn some things, but it isn't as simple as you might think. Posts 2 Vibe-Coded Apps Can Be Dangerous Here's the thing -- if you have no way of evaluating the quality of your code, it could have all sorts of problems that you're simply oblivious to. Even if you test the code extensively, and use AI to iteratively fix bugs and issues you find, you still have no idea whether the code is actually good or not. Does it follow good practices for cybersecurity? Does it have some obvious flaw in it that a human coder would spot in an instant? Perhaps more importantly, is there a not-so-obvious issue that only an experienced human coder would clock? It's one thing to vibe code a fun little game for your kids or for your personal DIY projects, but if you're trying to make software that you want to publish, or even sell, the pitfalls are many. Related I Tried Coding a Game With ChatGPT, Here's How It Went Coding a game is a lot of work, but can ChatGPT make it easier? The truth is, you'll still need to know how to code. Posts 2 LLMs Are Always Risky Unless You're A Subject Expert Because of the way Large Language Models work, there's always a chance that it will make a mistake or even make things up that it shouldn't. When it comes to computer code, even an LLM that's 99% reliable and correct will still create significant problems when you have hundreds or thousands of lines of code. Even worse, if you ask an LLM to evaluate that code, some of the time it will do it incorrectly for the same reasons. This is just a symptom of a problem with LLMs on the whole. If you are a subject expert, then an LLM can be a powerful, profound productivity booster. So an ace coder can now simply spend their time debugging that 1% of the code that's wrong, instead of writing the 99% that's mostly boilerplate busywork. To someone like this, an LLM coding assistant is the best thing that's ever happened to them. For someone that has no idea how to debug code at all, or to someone trying to use an LLM in a subject area they know nothing about, it's a deadly trap where you don't know what you don't know. Related What Is an LLM? How AI Holds Conversations LLMs are an incredibly exciting technology, but how do they work? Posts There Should Always Be a Human Coder in the Loop I think this is generally true for any work done by an LLM, but you always need a human expert in the loop to check on the work done by an LLM. Whether that's coding, or writing a research paper. LLMs will never be 100% trustworthy or reliable, and any number below 100% means you need a human checking on that output. This doesn't mean LLMs are useless or that they won't revolutionize what we can do or how fast we can do it, it just means that we will always have to supervise it competently. So unfortunately, you'll still have to learn to code. There's no way around it.

Vibe coding: What it is, and why you should give it a miss

Table of Contents Table of Contents What exactly is vibe coding? Why is vibe coding problematic for your users? Why is vibe coding problematic for you? What's the solution? How long will vibe coding stick around? We all know programmers are using AI tools to supplement their work, but there's a new trend in town taking things to the next level. The term "vibe coding" was coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy just last month, but what started as a random X post has quickly spiraled into a whole new community. What Karpathy describes in his post is creating software without writing any code -- all he does is send prompts describing what he wants to his AI tool and accept all of the output it generates. He even uses a dictation tool to avoid using his keyboard. Sounds crazy, right? That's because it is. Recommended Videos What exactly is vibe coding? Most AI coding tools right now do three things: Generate auto-complete suggestions when the user is typing a line of code Explain, summarize, debug, or advise on code snippets you provide Generate chunks of code based on your natural language prompts They're designed to help people who know how to code -- with some also focusing on study and education. Even Cursor, one of the main tools people are using to vibe code right now, is really designed for developers. It's meant to speed up simple processes for people who would have been coding whether the tool existed or not. Take this random feature explanation from the Cursor website, for example: "Cursor lets you write code using instructions. Update entire classes or functions with a simple prompt." Sure, the purpose of the feature is to save you from writing code manually -- but you still need to know what things like classes and functions are to make good use of it. Vibe coding (or what vibe coding is quickly becoming) is a trend where people take these tools and try to make something with as little as zero software development knowledge -- simply describing in natural language the results they want to see as an end user. Why is vibe coding problematic for your users? When a completely non-technical person opens up Cursor and starts vibe coding, the results will be pretty different from when someone like Andrej Karpathy vibe codes. Where Karpathy might ask Cursor to "Generate some code that hashes and salts passwords for user authentication," a non-technical vibe coder might say "Hey Cursor, make a secure database to store my passwords." Sure, they used the word "secure" -- but that's exactly the kind of detail an LLM might randomly ignore. Alternatively, its idea of "secure" might not be up to commercial software standards, or it might add security measures in some places and not others. There's another problem with this phrasing, too -- the "store my passwords" part. It's pretty normal to think of passwords as being "stored" somewhere but if you know what password salting and hashing are, you know that users' passwords technically aren't stored anywhere. Instead, the salt and the hash value of the concatenated salt and password are stored -- and despite all of the crazy terms in that sentence, it's not an overly complex concept. However, it is something you'd never know unless you purposefully went out and learned about it. And if you don't know it, you can't ask for it. So, instead, you've requested a secure database -- but which version of the LLM genie will you get? The one that takes your prompt literally and stores the passwords as is in a random little database? Or the one that considers what you actually want to achieve and comes up with a proper authentication process for you? I think the most accurate answer is that sometimes you'll get the mean-spirited genie, sometimes you'll get the kind one, and a lot of the time, you'll get something in between -- with no real rhyme or reason to it. It could do 100% of the job, it could do 90%, it could do 5%. With a prompt that vague, anything could happen, and the problem is -- a non-technical vibe coder has no way of understanding the result or deciding how good it is. You can't even write proper tests to find out what's going on if you don't know what security measures you need, what you ended up with, what they should achieve, or what success and failure might look like. After all, having bad, broken, or zero security measures implemented in your software won't make it break. It could still look like it's doing everything correctly on the user end -- but behind closed doors, your users' sensitive information (personal data, payment information, usage history) will be completely unprotected and ready for bad actors to steal. And that's bad for you as well as your customers -- security breaches cause nothing but stress, scandal, and financial loss for product owners. When Karpathy described his vibe coding experiments he said the code he and Cursor produce "mostly works," and I'm not here to claim that "mostly works" is unacceptable. There are always quick fixes, hacky solutions, bugs, and all sorts of problems hidden in every code base for every product. With the size and complexity of software these days, it's simply unavoidable. But if you want to release your project to the public and charge people money to use it -- you have a responsibility to make it as safe as you can. Leaving sensitive information unprotected isn't okay -- and assuming it's protected without properly confirming isn't okay either. If you need a real-life cautionary tale -- @leojr94 on X has everything you need. Here is his story condensed into three X posts: Why is vibe coding problematic for you? Software is expensive. Even if you cut all of the development costs through vibe coding, you still have to pay to store your data, send it around between you and your users, and interact with other services through APIs. The services you use for this, such as AWS, are usually pay-as-you-go, meaning you only pay for exactly what you need. That's great, right? Sure. But when you're not in control of the software you're developing, you're not in control of the data usage either. Your code, generated in random chunks and spliced together, is likely to be extremely inefficient. Just a few badly designed lines could produce 3x, 5x, or even 10x more data than you actually need -- and sending that unnecessary data back and forth between you and your users will cost you lots of extra money. The most explosive way this can go wrong is actually when things go right. Imagine you have a few users, you have some bills coming in, growth is slow but steady, and you can deal with it. But one day you wake up and your social media content has gone viral, driving thousands of people to your software product. This would be great, except for the fact that your AWS bill is now huge and you notice that your network traffic costs per user are actually higher than the subscription cost they're paying you. What's the solution? At this point, some people would start suggesting more products. Platforms designed for vibe coders and "non-techies" that provide users with extra support for security, servers, and other backend stuff. Some people might also say that with a few tweaks, vibe coding could be just the thing software development needs to become democratized and stop being exclusionary. I have a different opinion -- it's already democratized and it's already inclusionary (though I don't think that's a word). Anyone anywhere can learn about computer science, coding, programming, or software development as long as they have a computer and an internet connection -- and that's exactly what people do. Huge numbers of programmers are self-taught and they probably always will be. You have everything you need, which leads me to the "harsh truth" of the situation: if you want to make software, then tough luck -- you need to learn how to do it. If you have an idea, you either put in the effort to learn how to build it or you put in the effort to find partners and investors who can help bring it to life. There's no grifty, zero-effort option where you magically end up with a working product in a negligible amount of time and have no partners you need to share the profits with. That's not how the world works, and it's not how it should work, either. If you want to speak another language, you need to learn it. If you want to play guitar, you need to learn how. And if you want to make software -- you need to learn how to make software. If the DIY path sounds good to you, then great news -- anyone with the means to sit and vibe code using free or paid software also has the means to sit and study programming using free or paid courseware. Maybe you could even use AI tools to speed things up. And I'm not kidding when I say anyone can do it -- programming is actually so big on inclusion that there's even a "type of programming" available for just about everyone. Sure, not every person will become a software architect at a top company -- but some people will learn enough to make games in C++, others will learn enough to make apps with Python, and even if you decide that coding isn't really your thing, you'll probably still be able to make websites with HTML. Whether you're a professional study bug or you've never studied in your life, and whether you're a math whizz or you're terrible with numbers -- you will be able to make something. How long will vibe coding stick around? Now, it's impossible to know what Karpathy intended to achieve by running this little experiment or posting it online. To me, the X post reads like this: "Man, this AI stuff is getting crazy. I can make tons of intentionally bad decisions, ask for intentionally dumb things, and somehow I end up with something that still kind of works." Other people seem to have interpreted it more like "Wow, you can make software even if you don't understand how to code." Nope. Big nope. You can't do that. You might think the barrier between you and the app you want to make is that cryptic nonsense programmers sit and type all day -- that you can't make anything because you don't know how to type code. But that's not it. You can start to understand all that stuff after just a handful of hours studying it. It's just language, just the method of communication between you and the computer, and it pales in importance compared to the actual information you want to communicate. If your goal in life is to have a deep and thoroughly technical conversation with a Spanish experimental physicist in their native language -- you won't achieve it just by learning Spanish. Designing software, understanding algorithms, managing data, meeting security standards, building for scale, optimizing, and debugging -- these are the skills that build software. So it doesn't matter if Cursor lets you avoid typing code, you still can't make a proper app if you don't know anything about apps. I don't really know how big vibe coding will get or how long it will last, but I definitely don't think it's worth it for a non-technical person to try and vibe code a product. I also don't think trying a vibe-coded product is worth the risk for consumers -- there's no way to know if your passwords and payment information are safe. If you see a new independently developed product you're interested in -- consider finding out who made it and how it was made before you give them money.

Does Vibe Coding Really Work? We Built a Game With Claude -- Here's How It Turned Out - Decrypt

There's a new trend among AI enthusiasts, and it's not chatbots or agents. We're talking about "vibe coding" -- a session in which a person simply talks to an AI, gives an idea of something they want to build, and starts iterating with the model, asking it to fix and improve things along the way. It's supposedly as easy as talking to a friend, and simple enough for even laymen with extremely modest technical sophistication to do. I wrote about it here. But to get beyond the hype, I wanted to see if vibe coding could actually produce something useful. I chose Claude 3.7 Sonnet as my AI partner after Decrypt's tests showed it outperformed even Grok-3 for coding tasks. My software project was pretty simple: I wanted to build a typing game in which words cascade down the screen, tasking players with typing them before they reach the bottom to survive. We started with the most basic prompt possible: "Write a beautiful, relaxing game in which I must type out words fast to remain alive. The words are falling down and each letter has a vanishing effect as I type on them." Within minutes, Claude pumped out what looked like a complete game... But when I tried to run it, nothing happened. The start button was dead. I mentioned the error to Claude and it started to work assuring me it found the bug and was working to fix it. Claude was done, and the new game was in front of our eyes. I tried it, and nope... still broken. Rather than diving into the code ourselves (that's not vibe coding!), I just told Claude: "Nope. Nothing happens when I click the button. The game never starts." The AI went back to work, and its second attempt actually launched. I also cheated a bit and checked the code, noticing another issue: The game used only about 10 different words, which would get repetitive fast. Instead of asking for a complete dictionary integration, I had Claude mix real words with made-up ones -- a practical solution that kept the code simple. I continued this back-and-forth with Claude, refining through natural language rather than code edits. Fourteen iterations later, I had something satisfactory enough for me to share without being ashamed. When my colleagues tested the finished game, the reactions were mostly positive. One journalist even beat my high score (which sucked), while others offered ideas for improvements. The only "bugs" they found were actually intentional limitations: randomly generated words, but no mobile support. You can try the game here. As of now, Ryan Gladwin holds the record with 2,830 points, but hopefully I'll claim my throne back anytime soon. After all this and other experiments, here are some things that can be useful for those willing to give vibe coding a try: 1. Rapid prototyping works: We went from concept to playable game quickly, with minimal technical input. This is great for novices with minimal coding abilities. However, it could probably be a good technique for experienced coders who need a rough draft to start iterating. 2. Iteration is key: The first attempt rarely works perfectly. Success comes through conversational refinement and clear feedback. In this stage, experienced coders could probably leave vibe coding behind and stick to normal debugging, using AI as it should be -- a digital assistant that helps them with the process. However, those willing to commit fully to vibe coding may benefit from using very specific and detailed language. The richer and better structured your prompt is, the better the results you will get. 3. Don't rush it: Knowing when to simplify requirements helps achieve a working product faster. Ideally, don't ask the model to do everything at once. Instead, think about the experience as adding different layers to a rough structure. Start with the basics, then ask the model to fix one small bug, then another, then add a specific thing you'd like to see -- and move on from there. 4. Quality has limits: While we created a functional and enjoyable game, it lacked the polish and optimization of professionally developed software. Don't expect to develop Skyrim with Grok. 5. Debugging is conversational: Rather than searching for problems in the code, we simply described what wasn't working and let the AI figure out how to fix it. This works well, but of course, experts may speed things up by checking the code or talking to the model about the technicalities instead of the expected results. Overall, vibe coding can indeed produce functional software if you're patient enough to guide the AI through multiple iterations. Is it production-quality code? Definitely not. You'll still need proper debugging, optimization, and various specialized tools to build truly professional applications. But then again, the guy who built Flappy Bird made millions with a simple game that didn't need fancy architecture or complex systems. Sometimes, all you need is a good idea, and maybe -- just maybe -- vibing with AI until you start making millions.

Vibe Coding: How Devs and Laymen Alike Are Using AI to Create Apps and Games - Decrypt

Once upon a time, God said, "Let there be light" -- and there was light. Now you can say, "Let there be this app," and the app will appear right before your eyes, all thanks to the magic of AI. This is what vibe coding promises. "I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works," Andrej Karpathy -- a co-founder of OpenAI and former AI director at Tesla -- tweeted last month, describing his new programming approach on social media. Instead of meticulously writing code, he explained that he simply talks to an AI assistant and lets it do the heavy lifting. He called this "vibe coding" -- and all the AI guys loved it. The term immediately found product-market fit, and in just a few weeks, Merriam-Webster Dictionary had added "vibe coding" to its database, defining it as "writing computer code in a somewhat careless fashion, with AI assistance." By March, Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan reported that in the accelerator's Winter 2025 startup batch, "for 25% of the batch, 95% of lines of code are LLM-generated." Some think this is the future of technology, when anyone can bring into reality any idea using natural language, and giving machines the responsibility to code. Others see the trend as the tech equivalent of a jam session, in which people start with an idea, and let the flow -- and the interaction with their chatbot -- guide them through a final result. Of course, critics see this trend as a recipe for disaster. "Vibe coding is like buying a kit to build a race car, paying your drunk uncle who 'knows a thing or two about racing' to build the kit for you, then telling all your friends that you built it," said one Reddit user. At its core, vibe coding involves telling an AI what you want to build in plain language, then letting it generate the actual code. Rather than wrestling with syntax or poring over documentation, developers can simply say, "Create a login form with email validation and password requirements," and watch as the AI handles the implementation details. (It's so easy even a layman can do it like me. See how I did it here.) The vibe coding approach flips traditional software development on its head. Instead of writing code line by line, vibe coders focus on high-level instructions and iterative refinement through natural conversation with AI assistants. "It's a new way of coding where you don't write a single line of code," noted tech educator Matthew Berman. "You do not read the code, you simply try to use it, see if it works -- and if it doesn't, you explain what's wrong... you do not look at the diffs, and you basically just vibe." Karpathy calls this the "Accept All" mentality. "I 'Accept All' always, I don't read the diffs anymore," he said, referring to how he accepts AI-suggested code changes without scrutinizing them. This approach -- where the AI is trusted to write working code without the developer fully understanding every line -- is what distinguishes true vibe coding from simply using AI as a sophisticated assistant. In AI-assisted coding, users rely on AI to help them code, but they debug errors and understand what the AI is doing. The AI simply is a very fast typist that gets the job done. Vibe coders on the other hand don't debug, don't code, and don't know -- nor care -- about what happens under the hood. All they do is talk, review, and talk again. In a pure vibe coding session, the prompter doesn't check on the code. They just point out the errors and their ideas for improvement after running what the machine created. It's the machine, not the human, the one who is supposed to fix everything and improve the code. Beyond the technical aspects, vibe coding has spawned its own distinct culture and aesthetic. The term "vibe" isn't accidental -- it captures the emphasis on creativity, flow, and even playfulness that practitioners bring to coding sessions. On TikTok and YouTube, videos of vibe coding often feature developers in moody lighting with RGB keyboards, ambient music playing softly in the background as they chat with their AI assistant. The scene looks like anything but traditional software engineering. This fusion of coding with a chill, creative atmosphere has made programming appear more approachable and emotionally engaging. Riley Brown, a social media influencer who calls himself a "Sr. Vibe Coder" on LinkedIn and is now fully dedicated to spreading awareness on this trend, has amassed over a million followers across platforms by posting videos where he builds functioning apps through voice commands alone. Other influencers like Matthew Berman, Nuno Maduro, and The Primeagen have also shared their sessions on YouTube and Twitch. The aesthetic emphasizes that coding can be fun and expressive rather than dry and technical. It's a stark departure from the buttoned-up, precision-focused culture traditionally associated with software development. Several high-profile tech figures have championed vibe coding, propelling it from niche concept to mainstream discussion in a matter of months. Andrej Karpathy's influence cannot be overstated. His initial posts describing his vibe coding workflow received thousands of likes and sparked widespread debate. Given Karpathy's reputation in the AI community, his endorsement lent significant credibility to the approach. Andrew Chen, general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has been another evangelist of the trend. Chen described vibe coding as "brilliant and enormously frustrating." "Most code will be written (generated?) by the time-rich," he said. "Thus, most code will be written by kids/students rather than software engineers. This is the same trend as video, photos, and other social media." Amjad Masad, CEO of Replit, has reported that "75% of Replit customers never write a single line of code" thanks to AI features -- a statistic that underscores how vibe coding principles are already changing who can create software. But not everyone is convinced. Many developers have raised serious concerns about vibe coding's potential drawbacks. Code quality is the main criticism. Vibe coding could be a great tool for inexperienced people, but experts argue it is still not good enough to produce quality results. Jonathan Blow, developer of acclaimed indie game Braid, weighed in on the trend in response to vibe coder Levelsio in a popular debate on X, which was triggered after the latter shared a flight simulator built entirely during a vibe coding session. "I'll put it this way: If you have never tried to make a game, I am sure it is fun to have a game-making experience. For those who have made games, even just simple ones, getting stuff on the screen is not impressive, it's easy; it's making the game good that is hard," Jonathan Blow, developer of acclaimed indie game Braid, told vibe coder Pietier Levels (aka Levelsio) in a viral debate on X triggered after the latter shared a flight simulator built entirely with AI. Security vulnerabilities represent another significant risk. AI assistants don't inherently understand security best practices that are specific to a particular application. Blindly accepting AI-generated code could introduce security holes that might remain undetected until exploited. "AI makes shit up. Code written by AI is almost always flat-out wrong," said Reddit user Dw444 in a recent post. "My employer pays for AI assistants we can use for work, and even the most advanced models are prone to start writing blatantly incorrect code at the drop of a dime. You really don't want to use AI code in [production]." There's also concern about skill atrophy. If developers increasingly rely on AI for even moderate coding tasks, then their foundational skills might deteriorate over time."Ease of use is a double-edged sword," AI researcher Harry Law told Business Insider. "Beginners can make fast progress, but it might prevent them from learning about system architecture or performance." Debugging can also become particularly challenging when the original code wasn't human-written. As Andrew Chen noted, while getting the first 75% of a project done with AI might be trivial, refining and fixing it afterward can become extremely difficult. Overall, the best approach thus far appears to be AI-assisted coding. "Suffice to say (vibe coding) is not mainstream and the first few attempts at generating useful code -- in a few minutes -- were completely wrong," AI developer Julian Harris wrote while describing his experience with vibe coding. But he concluded, "I found careful prompting with solid software engineering disciplines worked very well. With my background, I expect I'd have spent twice as long hand-writing it all, and honestly probably would've given up."

Does "vibe coding" make everyone a programmer?

New York (AFP) - Can a complete tech novice create a website using everyday language on ChatGPT? That's the promise, misleading for some, of "vibe coding," the latest Silicon Valley catchphrase for an advance in generative AI that some say makes computer programming as simple as chatting online. "You fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists," OpenAI co-founder and former Tesla employee Andrej Karpathy described in early February, in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), using the term for the first time. "I'm building a project or web app, but it's not really coding - I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works," he said. The developer and entrepreneur was referring to the new generative AI models that produce lines of code on demand in everyday language, through writing or speech. The concept of "vibe coding" remained confined to the AI community until New York Times columnist Kevin Roose claimed to have created websites and apps without any knowledge of programming. "Just having an idea, and a little patience, is usually enough," he wrote. The ChatGPT and Claude interfaces can write an entire program line by line on demand, as can Gemini, which launched its dedicated version, Gemini Canvas, on Tuesday. Other generative AI platforms specifically dedicated to coding have also made their mark in recent months, from Cursor to Loveable, or Bolt, Replit and Windsurf. "Maybe, just maybe, we're looking at a fundamental shift in how software is created and who creates it," said online marketing specialist Mattheo Cellini on Substack. "It's unlikely to make coding irrelevant, but it may change the way developers work," suggested Yangfeng Ji, professor of computer science at the University of Virginia. "This could lead to some job displacement, particularly for those focused solely on basic coding tasks." Even before "vibe coding," a downturn was being seen by some in IT employment as the first effects of generative AI began to be felt. The sector shed nearly 10,000 jobs in the US in February, according to the Department of Labor, and its headcount is at a three-year low. Expertise needed? Among code novices, many find it hard to catch the vibe. "People who do not have programming expertise often struggle to use these kinds of models because they don't have the right kinds of tools or knowledge to actually evaluate the output," said Nikola Banovic, professor of computer science at the University of Michigan. On social media, the few newbies who report on their "vibe coding" quickly complain that it's not as easy as some want to believe. Without mastering computing complexities like digital directories, runtime environments or application programming interfaces (APIs), it's hard to create an app that works. Despite his coding knowhow, Claude Rubinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Houston-Downtown, wanted to create an application for his students two years ago without tinkering with the code generated by ChatGPT. After a lot of trial and error, the app finally worked, but "I'm convinced it wouldn't have worked if I hadn't understood the code," which allowed him to guide the interface using the appropriate language. This brought home the importance of the "prompt": mastering the request submitted to obtain the desired result. "Programmers have certain levels of AI literacy that allows them to get what they want out of the models," said Banovic. Everyday users "will not know how to prompt," h warned.

Does 'vibe coding' make everyone a programmer?

"Vibe coding" promises to make website creation easy for tech novices using generative AI models like ChatGPT, but experts caution it's not as simple as it sounds. While AI can generate code on demand, users often struggle without programming knowledge, highlighting the importance of mastering prompts and understanding code basics.Can a complete tech novice create a website using everyday language on ChatGPT? That's the promise, misleading for some, of "vibe coding," the latest Silicon Valley catchphrase for an advance in generative AI that some say makes computer programming as simple as chatting online. "You fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists," OpenAI cofounder and former Tesla employee Andrej Karpathy described in early February, in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), using the term for the first time. "I'm building a project or web app, but it's not really coding -- I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works," he said. The developer and entrepreneur was referring to the new generative AI models that produce lines of code on demand in everyday language, through writing or speech. The concept of "vibe coding" remained confined to the AI community until New York Times columnist Kevin Roose claimed to have created websites and apps without any knowledge of programming. "Just having an idea, and a little patience, is usually enough," he wrote. The ChatGPT and Claude interfaces can write an entire program line by line on demand, as can Gemini, which launched its dedicated version, Gemini Canvas, on Tuesday. Other generative AI platforms specifically dedicated to coding have also made their mark in recent months, from Cursor to Loveable, or Bolt, Replit and Windsurf. "Maybe, just maybe, we're looking at a fundamental shift in how software is created and who creates it," said online marketing specialist Mattheo Cellini on Substack. "It's unlikely to make coding irrelevant, but it may change the way developers work," suggested Yangfeng Ji, professor of computer science at the University of Virginia. "This could lead to some job displacement, particularly for those focused solely on basic coding tasks." Even before "vibe coding," a downturn was being seen by some in IT employment as the first effects of generative AI began to be felt. The sector shed nearly 10,000 jobs in the US in February, according to the Department of Labor, and its headcount is at a three-year low. Expertise needed? Among code novices, many find it hard to catch the vibe. "People who do not have programming expertise often struggle to use these kinds of models because they don't have the right kinds of tools or knowledge to actually evaluate the output," said Nikola Banovic, professor of computer science at the University of Michigan. On social media, the few newbies who report on their "vibe coding" quickly complain that it's not as easy as some want to believe. Without mastering computing complexities like digital directories, runtime environments or application programming interfaces (APIs), it's hard to create an app that works. Despite his coding knowhow, Claude Rubinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Houston-Downtown, wanted to create an application for his students two years ago without tinkering with the code generated by ChatGPT. After a lot of trial and error, the app finally worked, but "I'm convinced it wouldn't have worked if I hadn't understood the code," which allowed him to guide the interface using the appropriate language. This brought home the importance of the "prompt": mastering the request submitted to obtain the desired result. "Programmers have certain levels of AI literacy that allows them to get what they want out of the models," said Banovic. Everyday users "will not know how to prompt," he warned.

Decoding the Vibe - AI's Impact on Developer Expertise: By Erica Andersen

Thankfully, despite the Tech bros latest hype handle, 'Vibe coding' isn't yet a widely recognized or standardized term in software development. It is a hip but informal or colloquial expression but a dangerous one that is a danger to our western coding resource. Lose the skills in any industry or country and you lose the fundamentals and resilience to bounce or fight back Chief chuckle brother VC Sam Altman's never fails to disappoint from a humor perspective, if not a financial one. OpenAI a former not for profit that is still posting red ink accounts, but, it's CEOs latest wrong and greedy vibe coding should be a worry. It is encouraging heads of data and tech departments to move away from their experts in traditional, explicit coding. It is a shift towards: Here is how this approach will impact expert developers and project reliability: In essence, Vibe coding is about leveraging AI to augment and amplify expert developers capabilities. It has the potential to revolutionize software development, but it also introduces new challenges related to reliability and control. The experts role shifts from low level coder, to high level prompter, tester, and verifier. Its a very interesting and rapidly evolving area! Sources and related content The key is to find a balance between fostering a positive work environment and adhering to sound software development principles. We therefore need to:- In conclusion, a positive "vibe" can be an asset in software development, but only if it does not come at the expense of sound technical practices and the hollowing out of the talent we need to compete. Lose the skills in any industry or country and you lose the fundamentals and resilience to bounce or fight back.

Vibe coding: A threat to software engineers?

"Vibe coding" is a new AI-driven approach to programming, allowing users to generate code using everyday language. While it simplifies coding, experts warn it may lead to poor results without understanding core concepts. AI's growing role in coding raises concerns about job displacement but it could also create new roles."Vibe coding" is the latest buzzword in Silicon Valley, referring to a development in generative AI that some believe makes programming as easy as having an online chat. In a post on X in February, OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy, who coined the term, said, "There's a new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding', where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists." According to the news agency AFP, vibe coding refers to the latest generative AI models, such as Cursor, Bolt, or Claude, which can generate code instantly using everyday language, either written or spoken. "I'm building a project or web app, but it's not really coding - I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works," Karpathy explained in the post. Is vibe coding as easy as it sounds? While AI tools can certainly speed up coding or even take over the process for beginners, it's almost impossible to fix a problem if you don't understand what you're working with. Creating an app or website that functions well is difficult without grasping key concepts like digital directories, runtime environments, or application programming interfaces (APIs). Sharing his views on X, Jonathan Blow, a designer and programmer, said: "Vibe Coding is great because after 3 weeks you can have a game that seems like it was made at a weekend game jam, except it will also have a nasty low frame rate and lots of weird bugs! You can hook up payments to this not-really-game and then lie about how much it makes!" What industry executives say about coding and AI Last week, OpenAI's chief product officer, Kevin Weil, stated that he believes AI will surpass human coders by the end of this year, calling it a historic moment in tech. This came in response to Anthropic's prediction that coding automation would take until 2027 to become a reality. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently predicted that AI could be responsible for writing 90% of all code within the next 3-6 months, with the possibility of automating "nearly all coding" within a year. Meanwhile, Garry Tan, CEO and president of Y Combinator, told CNBC that a small team of just 10 skilled coders could be on track to creating the next multi-million-pound start-up, a task that would typically require 50 or 100 engineers. In an interview with Ben Thompson of Stratechery, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman discussed the future of software engineers, stating that, beyond a certain point, the need for them would decrease. He said, "I mean, my basic assumption is that each software engineer will just do much, much more for a while. And then at some point, yeah, maybe we do need less software engineers." Job market concerns The rapid advancements in AI have raised concerns about job displacement. "It's unlikely to make coding irrelevant, but it may change the way developers work," Yangfeng Ji, professor of computer science at the University of Virginia, told AFP. "This could lead to some job displacement, particularly for those focused solely on basic coding tasks." In the Stratechery interview, Altman spoke about the impact of AI on jobs and the speed at which displacement could occur. When asked for his perspective, he suggested that while changes wouldn't happen overnight, they would gradually accelerate over time. He said that it "kind of just seeps through the economy and mostly kind of like eats things little by little and then faster and faster". The World Economic Forum's 2020 report on the Future of Jobs predicted that approximately 85 million jobs could be eliminated due to the shift between humans and machines by 2025. However, the same report also suggested that 97 million new roles may emerge, which could help offset job losses.

AI Meets Creativity: Why Vibe Coding is the Future of Software Development

Have you ever had an idea for a game, app, or digital project but felt held back by the daunting world of coding? You're not alone. For many, the technical complexity of software development can feel like an insurmountable barrier, leaving creative visions stuck in the realm of "what if." But what if there was a way to bring those ideas to life without needing years of programming experience? Enter vibe coding -- a fresh, AI-powered approach that's making waves in the tech world. By using natural language prompts and AI tools, vibe coding opens up the doors to software creation for anyone, regardless of their technical background. At its core, vibe coding isn't just about simplifying the process -- it's about empowering creativity. Whether you're a hobbyist dreaming of building a retro-style game or a small business owner in need of a custom tool, vibe coding shifts the focus from technical know-how to the essence of your vision. Yet, like any innovation, it's not without its critics. Some traditional developers question its depth and quality, sparking debates that echo past technological shifts in fields like photography and music. So, is vibe coding the future of software development or just a passing trend? Wes Roth explores what makes this approach so exciting -- and why it's stirring up so much conversation. Vibe coding is reshaping the software development landscape by merging artificial intelligence (AI) with human creativity. This innovative approach simplifies the coding process, making it more accessible to individuals with minimal technical expertise. Vibe coding uses the power of AI to assist or even take the lead in the software development process. Instead of manually writing intricate lines of code, you can use natural language prompts or voice commands to guide AI tools in generating the necessary code. This approach shifts the focus from technical complexities to creativity and functionality. The term "vibe coding" was coined by Andrej Karpathy, a prominent AI researcher and advocate for this emerging methodology. By removing traditional barriers to entry, vibe coding enables individuals from diverse backgrounds to participate in software creation. Whether you are a hobbyist or a professional developer, this approach emphasizes innovation over technical expertise, allowing you to focus on the end result rather than the mechanics of coding. Vibe coding is already being applied in various creative and technical fields, showcasing its versatility and potential. Developers are using AI tools to create projects that would otherwise require extensive coding knowledge. For instance, Peter Levels, a well-known developer, has used AI to create multiplayer flying games with minimal manual coding. The practical applications of vibe coding include: By automating complex or time-consuming tasks, vibe code allows creators to dedicate more time to innovation and enhancing user experiences. This shift in focus has the potential to accelerate the development process while maintaining high-quality outcomes. Unlock more potential in AI coding by reading previous articles we have written. The rise of vibe coding has fostered a dynamic and collaborative community of enthusiasts and developers. Online platforms and forums now provide a wealth of resources, including tutorials, examples, and discussions, to help both beginners and experienced coders explore this new approach. These platforms serve as hubs for sharing knowledge and inspiring creativity. Events like the 2025 Vibe Coding Game Jam have further energized the community, offering participants a chance to showcase their projects and learn from one another. High-profile figures such as John Carmack and Andrej Karpathy have lent their support to these initiatives, inspiring a new generation of developers to embrace AI-assisted coding. This growing community is not only advancing the practice of vibe coding but also shaping its future by addressing challenges and exploring new possibilities. Despite its promise, vibe coding has not been without criticism. Traditional developers have raised concerns about the quality and efficiency of AI-generated code. Some argue that AI tools may produce code that lacks the depth and optimization achievable through manual programming. Additionally, there is a fear that over-reliance on AI could lead to a decline in foundational coding skills, leaving developers ill-equipped to tackle complex problems. These concerns are not unique to software development. Similar debates have emerged in other creative fields, such as photography and music production, where technology has lowered barriers to entry but has not entirely replaced professional expertise. While vibe coding offers significant advantages, it is essential to strike a balance between using AI tools and maintaining a strong foundation in traditional coding practices. The potential impact of vibe coding on software development is profound. By lowering technical barriers, it opens the door for a broader range of individuals to participate in creating software. Hobbyists, small business owners, and non-experts can use AI tools to develop custom solutions tailored to their needs. At the same time, professional developers can harness these tools to enhance productivity and streamline workflows. Tasks such as deployment automation, security management, and debugging could become more efficient, reducing the time and effort required to complete projects. This shift could lead to a more inclusive software development ecosystem, where creativity and innovation take precedence over technical expertise. As AI technology continues to evolve, vibe coding is expected to become even more intuitive and powerful. Its development mirrors the trajectory of digital photography, which initially faced skepticism but ultimately transformed the way people capture and share images. Similarly, vibe coding has the potential to reshape software development, making it more inclusive while preserving a role for professional expertise in complex and high-quality projects. The future of vibe coding lies in its ability to balance accessibility with technical rigor. By addressing current challenges and refining AI tools, this approach could empower a new generation of creators to push the boundaries of innovation. Whether you are a novice exploring coding for the first time or an experienced developer seeking to enhance your workflow, offering a glimpse into the future of software development.

From Ideas to Code: How Vibe Coding is Empowering Creators Everywhere

Vibe Coding is reshaping the landscape of software development by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) with natural language prompts. This new approach, championed by Andrej Karpathy, enables you to articulate software ideas in plain language, allowing AI to generate, refine, and iterate code. By significantly lowering the technical barriers to entry, Vibe Coding is transforming how applications, websites, and digital tools are created, making software development more accessible to individuals with minimal programming experience. At its core, Vibe Coding is an iterative and intuitive process that uses AI to convert natural language instructions into functional code. Instead of relying on traditional programming languages, you simply describe your goals and desired features in everyday terms. The AI interprets these instructions and produces executable code, which can then be refined and improved through further input. This approach emphasizes experimentation and creativity, allowing you to focus on your ideas rather than the technical complexities of coding. By removing the need for extensive programming knowledge, Vibe Coding enables you to engage in software development with a focus on innovation and problem-solving. Whether you are an experienced developer or a novice, this method provides a streamlined way to bring your concepts to life. Vibe Coding introduces a range of benefits that make it a fantastic tool for both seasoned developers and beginners. Its significance lies in its ability to simplify and accelerate the development process while fostering creativity. Here are some of the key advantages: For example, whether you are designing a game, rebuilding a website, or developing a custom tool, Vibe Coding minimizes technical hurdles. This allows you to focus on creativity and innovation, making it easier to turn your ideas into reality. Master Vibe Coding with the help of our in-depth articles and helpful guides. The practical applications of Vibe Coding are already evident in several real-world projects, showcasing its potential to simplify complex tasks and deliver impactful results. The Future Tools website serves as a compelling example of Vibe Coding in action. Using AI tools such as Cursor, Claude, and GPT, the website was rebuilt from the ground up. The process involved generating a roadmap, replicating the original design, and iteratively refining functionality. The site transitioned from Webflow to a custom stack using React, Supabase, and Wasabi. This project highlights how Vibe Coding can streamline complex workflows while maintaining high-quality outcomes. Another notable example is Peter Levels' browser-based airplane game, which was developed using Vibe Coding principles. By incorporating user feedback, he iteratively improved the game, eventually monetizing it through advertisements. The project generated an impressive $1.4 million in annual revenue, demonstrating how AI-driven development can lead to both creative and financial success. The effectiveness of Vibe Coding relies on a suite of advanced AI tools and workflows that simplify the development process. These tools enable seamless integration, debugging, and automation, making software creation more efficient. Key components include: By integrating these tools into your workflow, you can handle complex tasks such as API integration, database management, and iterative debugging with ease, allowing you to focus on the creative aspects of development. While Vibe Coding offers numerous advantages, it is not without its challenges. Understanding these limitations is essential for effectively using this approach. Some of the key challenges include: Despite these challenges, the rapid advancements in AI technology suggest that many of these limitations will be addressed over time, further enhancing the potential of Vibe Coding. Vibe Coding is driving several emerging trends that are shaping the future of software development. These trends highlight the growing influence of AI in redefining how technology is created and deployed: These trends underscore the fantastic role of AI in making technology development more inclusive, efficient, and innovative. To fully harness the potential of Vibe Coding, you need to adopt a mindset of experimentation and proactive problem-solving. By using AI tools and embracing iterative workflows, you can overcome traditional barriers in software development. Whether you are an experienced developer or a beginner, Vibe Coding enables you to bring your ideas to life with unprecedented speed and efficiency. As AI continues to evolve, the future of coding lies in collaborative, AI-driven processes that prioritize creativity, accessibility, and innovation.

Vibe Coding Getting Started : First Steps Guide 2025

Vibe coding is transforming the way software, applications, and games are created. By using the capabilities of AI-powered tools, this innovative approach enables users -- regardless of their technical background -- to efficiently generate, modify, and experiment with code. It simplifies the development process, fosters creativity, and enables individuals without coding expertise to bring their ideas to life. While these tools offer significant advantages, understanding their capabilities and limitations is essential to achieving success in your projects. Imagine being able to describe your vision and watch it take shape, or starting with a pre-built project and customizing it to fit your unique needs. Vibe coding isn't just about simplifying the process; it's about empowering you to experiment, iterate, and create without the fear of getting stuck in technical jargon. Whether you're a complete beginner or someone looking to streamline your development process, vibe coding offers a fresh, innovative way to turn your ideas into reality. Vibe coding is an approach to software development that integrates AI-driven tools to streamline the coding process. These tools assist in generating, editing, and experimenting with code, making the process more accessible and less daunting. Whether you're building a mobile app, designing a game, or developing a web application, vibe coding provides the resources needed to transform your concepts into functional products. This methodology often begins with pre-existing templates or frameworks, allowing users to refine and iterate on their projects. By reducing the initial learning curve, vibe coding encourages innovation and creativity, allowing you to focus on enhancing your ideas rather than starting from scratch. For individuals without prior coding experience, vibe coding eliminates traditional barriers, opening up new opportunities in the tech industry. A variety of AI-powered tools are available to support vibe coding, each designed to address specific development needs. These tools simplify complex tasks, making them accessible even to beginners. Take a look at other insightful guides from our broad collection that might capture your interest in Vibe Coding. To maximize the benefits of vibe coding, it is important to follow best practices. These guidelines will help you create innovative, secure, and effective projects. The vibe coding community is expanding at a remarkable pace, offering numerous opportunities for collaboration and inspiration. By engaging with others who share your interests, you can exchange ideas, learn new techniques, and receive valuable feedback on your projects. For entrepreneurs, vibe coding provides a pathway to innovation and business development. Whether you are creating a mobile app, designing a game, or launching a web platform, the possibilities are vast. By using AI tools and embracing a mindset of experimentation, you can transform your ideas into impactful solutions that resonate with users. Additionally, the collaborative nature of the vibe coding community fosters a supportive environment where individuals of all skill levels can thrive. From online forums to coding workshops, there are countless resources available to help you grow and succeed in this dynamic field. Vibe coding is reshaping the landscape of software development by making it more inclusive and accessible. With the help of AI-driven tools, you can simplify complex coding tasks, unleash your creativity, and bring your ideas to life. This approach is not only beneficial for beginners exploring the tech world but also for experienced developers seeking to innovate and streamline their workflows. By following best practices and staying informed about the latest advancements, you can harness the full potential of vibe coding. Whether your goal is to create a new app, design an engaging game, or develop a functional web platform, vibe coding offers the tools and community support needed to succeed in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Is Vibe Coding Agile or Merely a Hype?

Vibe coding -- using natural language to generate code through AI -- represents a significant evolution in software development. It accelerates feedback cycles and democratizes programming but raises concerns about maintainability, security, and technical debt. Learn why success likely requires a balanced approach: using vibe coding for rapid prototyping while maintaining rigorous standards for production code, with developers evolving from writers to architects and reviewers or auditors. In a way, vibe coding represents a fundamental shift in creating software. Rather than typing out syntax-perfect code, developers using the vibe coding approach express their intent in natural language, letting AI tools handle the translation into functional code. This approach emerged from the rapidly evolving capabilities of large language models (LLMs) and coding assistants. The term gained significant traction following Andrej Karpathy's observations about the changing nature of programming, capturing the paradigm shift as developers began leveraging AI to convert natural language descriptions into executable code. As these AI coding assistants matured, Karpathy's insight evolved further to the point where he noted that with modern AI tools, "it's not really coding -- I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy-paste stuff, and it mostly works." This statement encapsulates the essence of vibe coding: describing what you want the software to do and trusting AI to implement it correctly, often with minimal human intervention in the actual code generation process. From an Agile perspective, vibe coding presents intriguing possibilities. The core Agile principle of "responding to change over following a plan" perfectly aligns with vibe coding's flexibility. When product requirements shift, describing the new functionality in natural language and having AI quickly generate updated code could theoretically accelerate the adaptation process. Vibe coding also resonates with the "inspect and adapt" cycle central to Scrum and other Agile frameworks. Teams can quickly generate code, inspect the results, learn from feedback, and iterate rapidly -- potentially compressing what might have been days of conventional development into hours. Vibe coding could turbocharge the "build, measure, learn" cycle for product managers and entrepreneurs practicing Lean. Creating functional prototypes to test with users no longer requires coding knowledge or a significant investment. A product manager could describe a feature in natural language, have AI generate a working prototype, and put it in front of users within the same day. This acceleration of the feedback loop represents perhaps the strongest argument for vibe coding's Agile credentials. When gathering user feedback is the primary goal, functional demonstrations that produce meaningful responses become more valuable. Vibe coding could enable teams to move at remarkable speeds, but questions remain about reliability. While AI-generated code often "mostly works," that qualifier becomes problematic in production environments where "mostly" isn't good enough. However, the speed advantages may outweigh the quality concerns for early-stage validation and prototyping. Innovative product teams might adopt a hybrid approach: using vibe coding for rapid prototyping and initial validation, then refactoring critical components with traditional coding practices once the direction is validated. This balanced approach could capture speed benefits while mitigating risks. Professional developers raise legitimate concerns about code quality with vibe coding approaches. AI-generated code, while functional, often lacks the thoughtful architecture and dedication to technical excellence that experienced developers bring to projects. As Toby Devonshire warns: "Vibe coding is all fun and games until you have to vibe debug." The concern is valid: prototypes may morph into production systems riddled with technical debt without disciplined testing and documentation. This effect can result in inadequate implementations, unnecessary dependencies, or brittle code that works for the specific use case but breaks when conditions change. For example, Jo Bergum reports: "My experience with vibe coding is that it's fantastic for MVP but more frustrating for rewrites in larger code bases. When Claude starts to fake implementations to make tests pass, or solve dependency issues by implementing a mock, it feels like there is still a few more months". Therefore, perhaps, maintainability presents the greatest technical challenge. When developers need to modify AI-generated code months later, they may struggle to understand the implementation choices. Without clear documentation explaining why certain approaches were taken, maintenance becomes significantly more difficult. Security represents another major concern. AI coding assistants primarily optimize for functionality rather than security, potentially introducing vulnerabilities that human developers would quickly identify. While some AI tools incorporate security checks, they rarely match the comprehensive risk analysis that security-focused developers perform. These concerns become especially relevant for applications handling sensitive data or financial transactions. Vibe coding might be inappropriate for these use cases without extensive human review and enhancement. Perhaps most concerning from a technical perspective is the potential for vibe coding to accelerate technical debt accumulation. Traditional development approaches often involve careful consideration of architecture to minimize future rework. Vibe coding, emphasizing immediate functionality over long-term sustainability, could create significant future costs. The process resembles taking out a high-interest loan against your codebase's future. The immediate productivity gains feel valuable, but eventually, the technical debt payments come due in the form of maintenance challenges, refactoring needs, and scaling difficulties. One of vibe coding's most promising aspects is its potential to democratize software creation. Entrepreneurs with valuable domain knowledge but limited technical skills can now transform their ideas into working software without first learning to code or hiring expensive development teams. This accessibility could unleash innovation from previously excluded groups. Domain experts, for example, in healthcare, education, agriculture, and countless other fields, might create specialized tools that address needs that traditional software companies have overlooked. The economic implications of lowering barriers to entry in software creation are significant. Startups could launch with smaller initial investments, extending their runway and increasing their chances of finding product-market fit before funds run out. This advantage could lead to more diverse experimentation in the software ecosystem. For established companies, vibe coding might enable innovation from departments traditionally separate from software development. Marketing teams could prototype customer-facing tools, operations staff could build process automation, and sales representatives could create custom demos without depending on a development team's bandwidth. (Please note that this perspective might introduce problems at a different level, from strategic alignment to selling not features but products that do not yet exist.) Some critics argue that resistance to vibe coding stems partially from developers' concerns about job security. If non-technical team members can create functional software independently, what does this mean for professional developers? This perspective oversimplifies the situation. While vibe coding might reduce demand for basic implementation work, it likely increases the value of developers who can architect complex systems, optimize performance, ensure security, and maintain large codebases over time. The role may evolve, but professional development expertise remains essential. A balanced assessment suggests vibe coding has legitimate applications within an Agile context, particularly for: Conversely, vibe coding appears less suitable for: Therefore, it seems beneficial that teams integrating vibe coding with Agile workflows adopt hybrid approaches: As vibe coding capabilities mature, the role of professional developers will likely transform rather than diminish. Developers may shift from writing every line of code to: This evolution mirrors historical patterns in software development. Just as high-level languages and frameworks abstracted away machine code and memory management, vibe coding may abstract away routine implementation details, allowing developers to focus on higher-level concerns. Forward-thinking Agile teams might integrate vibe coding into existing workflows rather than replacing traditional development entirely. For example: This integration acknowledges both vibe coding's strengths and limitations, using each approach where it delivers the most value. Vibe coding represents neither a complete revolution nor a mere fad but rather an evolution in how software gets created. It aligns with Agile's emphasis on rapid iteration and user feedback while challenging traditional code quality and maintainability notions. Organizations willing to thoughtfully integrate vibe coding into their development workflows -- recognizing where it adds value and where traditional approaches remain superior -- stand to gain significant advantages in speed and accessibility. Those who dismiss it entirely risk missing opportunities for innovation, while those who uncritically embrace vibe coding may create unsustainable technical debt. As with most technological advances, the most successful approach involves pragmatic adoption guided by clear principles rather than wholesale acceptance or rejection. Vibe coding is unlikely to replace traditional development, but it has already begun to transform it in ways that will reshape software creation irreversibly. What are you using vibe coding for? Please share with us in the comments.

Does 'vibe coding' make everyone a programmer?

NEW YORK (AFP) - Can a complete tech novice create a website using everyday language on ChatGPT? That's the promise, misleading for some, of "vibe coding," the latest Silicon Valley catchphrase for an advance in generative AI that some say makes computer programming as simple as chatting online. "You fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists," OpenAI co-founder and former Tesla employee Andrej Karpathy described in early February, in a message posted on X (formerly Twitter), using the term for the first time. "I'm building a project or web app, but it's not really coding -- I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works," he said. The developer and entrepreneur was referring to the new generative AI models that produce lines of code on demand in everyday language, through writing or speech. The concept of "vibe coding" remained confined to the AI community until New York Times columnist Kevin Roose claimed to have created websites and apps without any knowledge of programming. "Just having an idea, and a little patience, is usually enough," he wrote. The ChatGPT and Claude interfaces can write an entire program line by line on demand, as can Gemini, which launched its dedicated version, Gemini Canvas, on Tuesday. Other generative AI platforms specifically dedicated to coding have also made their mark in recent months, from Cursor to Loveable, or Bolt, Replit and Windsurf. "Maybe, just maybe, we're looking at a fundamental shift in how software is created and who creates it," said online marketing specialist Mattheo Cellini on Substack. "It's unlikely to make coding irrelevant, but it may change the way developers work," suggested Yangfeng Ji, professor of computer science at the University of Virginia. "This could lead to some job displacement, particularly for those focused solely on basic coding tasks." Even before "vibe coding," a downturn was being seen by some in IT employment as the first effects of generative AI began to be felt. The sector shed nearly 10,000 jobs in the US in February, according to the Department of Labor, and its headcount is at a three-year low. Among code novices, many find it hard to catch the vibe. "People who do not have programming expertise often struggle to use these kinds of models because they don't have the right kinds of tools or knowledge to actually evaluate the output," said Nikola Banovic, professor of computer science at the University of Michigan. On social media, the few newbies who report on their "vibe coding" quickly complain that it's not as easy as some want to believe. Without mastering computing complexities like digital directories, runtime environments or application programming interfaces (APIs), it's hard to create an app that works. Despite his coding knowhow, Claude Rubinson, a professor of sociology at the University of Houston-Downtown, wanted to create an application for his students two years ago without tinkering with the code generated by ChatGPT. After a lot of trial and error, the app finally worked, but "I'm convinced it wouldn't have worked if I hadn't understood the code," which allowed him to guide the interface using the appropriate language. This brought home the importance of the "prompt": mastering the request submitted to obtain the desired result. "Programmers have certain levels of AI literacy that allows them to get what they want out of the models," said Banovic. Everyday users "will not know how to prompt," he warned.