What is Vibe Coding? Exploring AI-Assisted Software Development

A new approach to software development, known as "vibe coding," has started to emerge that promises to make creating software easier. Through interaction with artificial intelligence (AI), people prompt AI systems using natural language to specify their desired code. People can be authors of software without needing a background in programming. While this new technique generates excitement, it also raises many important questions regarding code quality, security, and the future of software engineers. The term, "vibe coding," was coined in early 2025 by Andrej Karpathy, a co-founder of OpenAI. Vibe coding is when users describe the desired functionality of software to large language models (LLMs) trained for coding in natural language. This is fundamentally different from coding in a conventional sense or writing code manually, and it may open software development to a much wider audience as Karpathy jokes: "the hottest new programming language is English." Increasingly, LLMs are capable of understanding basic requests and following them closely in the creation of code. Karpathy admits that when he uses LLMs to code, the process consists of "see[ing] stuff, say[ing] stuff, run[ning] stuff, and copy:paste stuff, and so it mostly works."

Vibe coding conventions typically consist of a repeating cycle between the user and the AI coding assistant. Users will provide instructions or goals in regular language, which form a prompt. For example, a user may ask an AI to "Create a simple web page that will display the current weather of a city entered by the user".  The AI will then work to convert that into code, similar to a sophisticated "autocomplete". After initial code is provided, the user can review it, then provide constructive input to AI, explaining subsequent refines or fixes. In this way, a repetitive user/AI interaction can continue until a user is satisfied. Even for simple tasks like creating a Python function to sort a list of names in alphabetical order, a basic natural language prompt in AI can provide a functioning code, saving the author any manual typing in the process. Proponents of vibe coding cite various possible benefits. Vibe coding technology promotes increased speed and efficiency in software development by automating boilerplate code and repetitive tasks. Vibe coding also improves access to software creation for populations with diminishing knowledge of coding, aiding in access to software development.  Vibe coding can also speed the process of rapid prototyping and experimentation, leading to quicker user feedback loops for iterating and refining ideas. People in non-technical positions may also be enabled to produce prototypes and, in doing so, improve their appreciation of the underlying systems.

However, this emerging trend has limitations and some criticisms. Quality and maintainability of code are common concerns, as AI-generated code may not be as beautiful or efficient as code produced by a human and instead contribute to "spaghetti code." For anyone without a deep understanding of programming principles, including experienced developers, finding and fixing bugs can also be a burden. A significant concern is security vulnerabilities that could easily be contributed by code that has not been rigorously reviewed by an experienced developer. Within the experienced developer community, skepticism exists regarding vibe coding as a potential means of bypassing the fundamental principles of software engineering that are required for writing solid and scalable software. There is also concern that relying too much on AI will deskill new developers and prevent them from developing the problem-solving skills that are essential to growth and confidence. An anecdotal example has even suggested an AI coding assistant to not generate code at all and instead suggest the user develop it themselves, highlighting the limitations of these tools.

Responses from the online programming community range from excitement about more accessibility to strong push back about code quality and security. Expert assessments also reflect the complexity of the topic. Karpathy sees it as intuitive, while Rachel Wolan, CPO at Webflow, calls it fast and flexible, but lacking in custom design, noting that it could be used to augment, rather than replace developers. David Gewirtz of ZDNET views it as a way for developers to increase their productivity, but sees a small opportunity for shortcut coding because main projects will still involve manual, complex code. AI researcher Simon Willison thinks if the AI-generated code gets a full human review and any misunderstandings are corrected, then it’s just using AI as a “typing assistant” and not vibe coding.  There are a few visible products coming to market which are going to (hopefully) make vibe coding simpler, like Cursor, an AI code editor that integrates AI directly within the code editor. Replit, an online coding platform, has integrated AI assistance, and according to the CEO, a significant percentage of Replit users utilize AI features without writing any manual code. GitHub Copilot serves in many ways as an AI pair-programmer completing code and supplying a chat feature for writing code based on natural language requests. Even general LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude can be used for vibe coding by generating code snippets from natural language prompts. Windsurf AI is another AI-driven code editor aiming for a more automated and streamlined experience.

Although it may appear to be solely focused on generating functionally workable code, vibe coding also engages with notions such as aesthetic programming. Aesthetic programming conceives coding as a form of critical and aesthetic inquiry that deepens our understanding of coding as a set of processes that intersect with human meaning-making. Aesthetic programming can also be associated with creative coding, where the resultant creation is primarily expressive, rather than being defined by functional creation, often to create specific "vibes" through visual and interactive modes. The accessibility of vibe coding could indicate an opening up of a lower barrier for artists to begin exploring within code. Furthermore, the AI-assisted nature of vibe coding contributes to changing the emotional space around coding. Vibe coding may reduce the frustration usually associated with learning how to read and use complex (or sometimes) nonsensical syntax, yet new anxieties will potentially emerge in not having a deep understanding or the ability to correctly self-debug. Additionally, pride will shift from writing code, to coding as a process of correctly managing an AI. The literature on coding has raised concerns about cognitive interference and a reduction in everyday coding knowledge if AI spacing is overfostered.

To sum up, vibe coding is a true advancement of the field of software development with exciting promise and challenges. Vibe coding is poised to democratize creation and raise productivity, but there will always be a need for core knowledge of programming fundamentals and for the judgment of experienced developers to create software that is secure, maintainable, and robust. In the long run, vibe coding will take the form of a hybrid; AI tools enhancing human capacity, but the inability for human reasoning and the "vibe" of ease of use must be reconciled with the rigor with which professional software engineering is developed.