Vibe coding is a way of creating software with the help of large language models: a person describes what they want, the AI generates the code and fixes any errors. It sounds like a promise of rapid development without needing to understand the resulting program. In practice, however, there is an important boundary between miraculous speed and sustainability.
What vibe coding is and why it has caught on
The term spread after a post by a well-known AI expert who described how, with the help of a model, he can assemble an application without detailed knowledge of the code. The principle is simple: you submit a request, the model generates a solution, and if there’s an error, you send it the error message to fix. It’s reminiscent of building with LEGO bricks—intuitive, creative, and accessible even to people with no experience with that language. Many, including companies, report a noticeable rise in productivity and rapid prototyping.
When speed collides with sustainability
The same trait that makes getting started easier turns into a drawback in practice: the creator doesn’t understand the code and later can’t modify it. A typical example is a generated SVG image that may work, but is so complicated that it’s hard to work with. Models often don’t offer suitable abstractions or a consistent structure, which makes long-term maintenance and development harder. The result: vibe coding is excellent for prototypes, but on its own it isn’t enough for robust production applications.
Co-creating with AI instead of autopilot
An effective approach is not to let AI decide everything, but to keep the architecture, product plan, and the method of integration into the customer’s environment in human hands. The team designs the solution’s structure, guards the budget and direction, and only then brings in models to speed up implementation. AI thus accelerates code writing, fills in routine tasks, and helps with fixes, but people steer the concept and quality. In other words: AI doesn’t create applications instead of us, but together with us.
