“Vibe coding” lets non-programmers create apps through AI—but experts remain skeptical

“Vibe coding” has emerged as a cultural phenomenon that democratizes software development through generative AI, allowing non-programmers to create applications by simply describing what they want. Coined by former Tesla AI head and OpenAI founding engineer Andrej Karpathy, this approach has sparked debate about the future of programming skills in an AI-powered world. Understanding the capabilities and limitations of vibe coding reveals important insights about the evolving relationship between humans, code, and artificial intelligence.

What it is: Vibe coding enables non-programmers to generate entire applications by prompting AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot to write the code for them.

• The term was introduced in February 2024 by Andrej Karpathy, who described it as “fully giving in to the vibes, embracing exponentials, and forgetting that the code even exists.”
• This approach resonated with people who lack traditional programming skills but want to bring their ideas to life through software.

Why it matters: Vibe coding significantly lowers the barrier to entry for software creation, allowing ideas to be implemented without mastering programming languages.

• For those without coding skills, it offers capabilities that were previously inaccessible, enabling the creation of functional applications through conversation with AI.
• However, the generated code often contains bugs and errors that non-programmers lack the expertise to identify and fix.

The debate: Industry experts remain divided on whether vibe coding represents a revolutionary advancement or an overhyped capability with serious limitations.

• Some social media commentators have made “outrageous claims that nobody needs to learn to program anymore,” according to software developer Simon Willison.
• Noah Giansiracusa of Bentley University calls it “a promising direction that will get a lot better” but acknowledges it currently has “reliability issues.”

Professional implications: Despite enthusiastic claims on social media, vibe coding is unlikely to replace professional software engineers.

• Matt Wood of Northumbria University explicitly states, “It’s not going to replace programmers.”
• Willison explains that “a huge amount of the work that we do with software engineers has nothing to do with typing the code,” emphasizing that creating functional, reliable software requires expertise beyond code generation.

The limitations: Vibe coding creates a problematic dependency cycle for non-programmers trying to build robust applications.

• Users without programming knowledge cannot effectively debug the AI-generated code when problems arise.
• They become reliant on the same AI systems that produced the original errors to fix those errors, creating a potentially frustrating loop.