I'm the dev of a semi-popular FOSS coding agent --I agree that "vibe coding" as a term is fairly cringe.
The thing is, I see AI coding tools, especially agents, as a major force multiplier for individual devs and small teams. The output of AI is everything from total AI slop to actually good, scoped PRs, or even occasionally fixing bugs that were otherwise impossible to fix within a given time-box. I don't see how using tools like this is bad at all. A lot of it really comes down to the operator --when I use coding agents, I end up leaning even harder into my background/knowledge on higher level abstractions, architecture, design decisions, etc.
> I don't see how using tools like this is bad at all.
It's a bit like putting sawdust in a car instead of oil. She'll run smooth as silk...for a few miles.
Right now, we have a solid core of developers with enough knowledge (built mainly by actually coding themselves) to be able to call bullshit on LLM's when they write poor code. For those people, yes, it's a solid tool.
The problem is when you consider coding in 10 years. The draw to use vibe coding both in schools and among nascent hackers will be incredibly strong. Those folks will get positive reinforcement from having code that just magically works without having to spend a ton of time designing and actually coding. If a whole generation of would-be programmers comes up using that technology exclusively, that core of hackers that have the chops to recognize bad code and prevent maintenance headaches down the road will slowly dwindle over time.
At that point, LLM's will be consuming LLM code that hasn't been properly reviewed and sanitized. Garbage in, garbage out (unless there is some magical AGI breakthrough that makes this all moot).
Going from a manual saw to a buzz saw can really cut down the time needed to get the job done, but without the knowhow of how to use a saw effectively, eventually fingers will replace the time being cut.
The thing is, I see AI coding tools, especially agents, as a major force multiplier for individual devs and small teams. The output of AI is everything from total AI slop to actually good, scoped PRs, or even occasionally fixing bugs that were otherwise impossible to fix within a given time-box. I don't see how using tools like this is bad at all. A lot of it really comes down to the operator --when I use coding agents, I end up leaning even harder into my background/knowledge on higher level abstractions, architecture, design decisions, etc.