If you’ve been anywhere near the tech press lately, you’ve probably heard the term “vibe coding.” My news feed is full of it. It’s one of those phrases that started as a joke but now seems to be everywhere. As someone who’s self-taught, and someone who now teach others how to code, I’ve been watching this trend with a mix of fascination and unease. What does it mean when anyone can build an app just by chatting to Cursor? How will this affect my job and the wider industry in general? Is this the death of ‘traditional’ software engineering — or just its next evolution? Do established companies even hire vibe coders? Questions…

What Is Vibe Coding?

Coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy in early 2025, “vibe coding” refers to the practice of using AI tools — like large language models (LLMs) — to generate code based on natural language prompts. Instead of writing code line by line, you describe what you want, and the AI builds it for you. Karpathy described it as “fully giving in to the vibes,” where you interact with the AI using voice or text, letting it handle the implementation details.

But here’s the thing… Andrej Karpathy understands how code works. What causes my eyebrow to assume a slightly less than horizontal attitude is when I read statements like this:

In vibe coding, the coder doesn’t need to understand how or why the code works and often accepts that a certain number of bugs and glitches will be present.

🤨 Hmm. But let’s set that aside for now.

The Growth of Vibe Coding

The adoption of vibe coding has been nothing short of explosive. According to Business Insider, a quarter of startups in Y Combinator’s current cohort have codebases that are almost entirely AI-generated. A quarter! Let that sink in a moment. OK, well that’s startups. Fair enough. But wait, there’s more… Google CEO Sundar Pichai reported that AI systems now generate a quarter of new code for the company’s products.

Startups like Lovable and Windsurf are offering lucrative salaries for “vibe coder–AI engineers,” emphasizing tools over degrees . Companies like DV8 Infosystems are hiring based on mindset and AI tool fluency — not formal education.

As a Self-Taught Developer, I’m Torn

I didn’t go through a formal CS program. I learned by building things, breaking them, Googling my way through bugs, reading, watching hundreds of hours of teaching and banging my head against a wall at 2am shouting things like: “Why won’t you work!!??”. So in theory, vibe coding should feel like a win — more access, an easy life, fewer gatekeepers. But I can’t help but worry.

If AI can build 80% of an app from a prompt, where does that leave developers like me? Are we being replaced — or just redefined? And what happens to the craft of software engineering when the barrier to entry drops so dramatically (if indeed it is actually dropping)?

The Reported Pros and Cons of Vibe Coding

Pros:

  • Speed: Vibe coding can accelerate development, allowing for rapid prototyping and iteration.

  • Accessibility: It lowers the barrier to entry, enabling non-developers to create functional software. Interesting question: If I can create software am I really a non-developer?

  • Innovation: By automating routine tasks, developers can focus on higher-level design and problem-solving.

Cons:

  • Quality and Maintenance: AI-generated code may lack the robustness and clarity of human-written code, leading to maintenance challenges.

  • Security Risks: Without proper oversight, AI-generated code can introduce vulnerabilities.

  • Skill Atrophy: Relying heavily on AI tools may erode fundamental coding skills over time.

I tried it!

I couldn’t shake the feeling of being torn, so I decided to just jump in and give it a go. I’ve got a fair bit of experience with web and mobile development, so I decided to try something I have very little experience with, but something that I’ve always wanted to have another go at:- building a game. As it happens, I’d just read an interesting article on vibe coding a game; which of course made it sound super easy — all the tools one could leverage and how just a few prompts would turn me into an indie triple A studio. Sweet. The challenge was on.

So “what is this game?”, I can hear you wondering. Where can I check it out? Well I’m sorry to disappoint but it’s still in development. You see, I didn’t want a simple 2D game of Pong. I wanted to try to build an idea that I actually had, and an idea I actually liked — a ‘real world’ use case. Nothing rediculous like a 3D multi-player FPS. Just a simple 2D game that looks isometric, a bit like Stardew Valley — that mega popular farming game everyone loves. It turns out that it’s not so easy. Assets aside, I found that my cutting edge AI-enabled IDE struggled immensely with the task. There were times where it wrote multiple files and left me jumping for joy. Then there were times where it just went round in a loop, getting stuck, changing the code, guessing over and over again and returning to the same point 100 edits later with the same unsolved issue. Immensely frustrating!

So here we are back again… on the fence. So much promise, tempered with so much frustration. If I wasn’t able to engineer my own solutions to those problems — how long would I be stuck beating my head against the wall? Could I try again tomorrow and get a better answer from AI? At the rate things are developing… probably!

Are Vibe Coders Getting Hired?

Yes, and at impressive rates. Companies are actively hiring vibe coders, with some roles paying up to $200K. The demand is growing, and the definition of a “technical founder” is evolving. Investors are now valuing domain expertise and the ability to leverage AI tools over traditional coding skills.

However, this trend also raises questions about the long-term implications for software engineering as a profession. While vibe coding opens doors for many, it also challenges the traditional pathways and skill sets that have defined the industry to-date.

Final Thoughts

Vibe coding feels to me like more than a trend. In the tech world, we’re used to trends. But this feels like a real shift in how we in the tech industry think about building software. As someone who learned to code through self-study, I see both the opportunities and the challenges it presents. It’s an exciting time, but also one that requires careful consideration of the implications for our industry and our roles within it.

What do you think? Is vibe coding the future of software development, or just a passing phase? Worried about Vibe Coders flooding the job market? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.