Vibe Coding

Vibe Coding

I am working on an app for clergy, and I have been using claude.ai to help. For the record, I am developing on a Linux system (Pop!_OS) and using SvelteKit and TypeScript. I also need to confess that I am not the world’s best developer (that and as I am getting a little long in the tooth, I don’t have the chops I once had). Since I am working solo and don’t have anyone to look over my shoulder or to boss around, claude.ai is an enormous help. It writes code for me that I know how to write, but it does it in a few minutes rather than (at best) a few hours. 

My first observation about claude.ai is that it is the best entry-level developer I have ever worked with. It knows a lot of stuff, churns out code like a demon, and doesn’t give me attitude when I correct its work. Totally worth what I pay for it. Claude.ai also tells me how smart I am and that it loves working with me - as if it were afraid of getting fired. On the other hand, it lacks the common sense it takes to make more coffee rather than let the pot burn out. 

AI will always lack common sense and, as far as writing code goes, will never advance past entry-level abilities. Therein lies the problem. Management, always looking to maximize ROI in the short run, sees AI as an almost costless squad of entry-level programmers. Make all the entry-level developers redundant and give all the smart guys a bunch of AI tools. In case you haven’t picked up on it, sooner or later, all the smart guys will die off, and all that will be left are MBAs who need to call tech support to plug their computers in. They will instruct an AI tool on what they want, and what they will receive is an entry-level program. And if you have ever worked with entry-level code, well, good luck, American business.

If we don’t teach entry-level people to be better than entry-level, that is, teach them common sense and creativity, we’re just screwing ourselves and hastening our way further down the path to Idiocracy.