Vibe Coding: Power to the people

The term “vibe coding” was coined in February 2025 by Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI and former Director of AI at Tesla. I've been a fan of his for many years and even wrote some fan fiction for one of his Sci Fi short stories. Andrej used the word to name the new approach to software development where folks have AI models generate code using language prompts. He said this way of coding was “fully giving in to the vibes,” as you chat with an AI to generate code.

The best tool I know for Vibe Coding is a new IDE called Cursor. It was launched in 2023 forked from the open sourced Visual Studio Code. It integrates a special AI powered chat dialog that feels like doig pair programming with AI.

 Key Features of Cursor:

1. Inline AI Chat: You can chat with the AI directly next to your code. Ask questions, fix bugs, or request changes line-by-line or across files.
2. Command Palette AI: Cmd/Ctrl + K is my favorite new shortcut. It opens a full-screen AI chat where you tell AI what do you want to do next.
3. Edit with AI: Highlight code and type instructions like “add logging” or “convert to async.” The AI applies the edit in place.
4. Autocomplete: Smart code completions (like Copilot) with more context awareness. This is the famous Tab-Tab-Tab coding, where you just accept the (mostly) accurate recommendations from the AI
5. Repo-wide Search & Edit: Ask the AI to find and modify logic across files—like “rename this function everywhere” or “change this pattern.”
6. Version Control Integration: AI explanations for diffs and commit summaries. The easiest way to manage merge requests.

This concept gained traction as it enabled even non-programmers to create functional software by describing desired outcomes, with AI handling the implementation details. The approach feels like a paradigm shift in software development, enabling non engineers to code and altering traditional roles within tech teams.  

When I talk about “vibe coding” with my programming friends they often dismiss it as a new fade. Some even mention that they dont want to use it because it will make them rusty. Just the same as when using the maps application on the smartphone made people loose their orientative intelligence.

I agree that while it allows for rapid prototyping there are potential drawbacks, such as reduced understanding of the generated code and challenges in debugging. Nevertheless,I think it represents a significant evolution in how software can be developed in the age of advanced AI.

Coming back to the maps analogy. If you were back at orienting yourself before, using maps has reduced the probability of you getting lost. If you were good at orienting, you can still orient yourself yet the mapping apps reduce the amount of time you need to get to a place.

As for debugging, the mapping applications also offer a good description. If you are bad at orientation, and hit a closed road, the Maps application will keep circling you back to the same closure again and again, and you will not understand what is happening . If you are good at orientation you will zoom out and navigate your way away. The same will happing with Vibe coding. If you have no idea what you are doing you are going to get stuck.

Yet, the possibilities that this opens for non technical people to rapid prototype a web page or an app are actually a blessing. It would help them document and specify their requirements better.

As for me, I'll keep vibing now...