What professionals really think about âVibe Codingâ
Many donât like it, buteverybody agrees itâs the future.âVibe Codingâ is everywhere. Tools and game engines are implementing AI-assisted coding, vibe coding interest skyrocketed on Google search, on social media, everybody claims to build apps and games in minutes, while the comment section gets flooded with angry developers calling out the pile of garbage code that will never be shipped.A screenshot from Andrej Karpathy with the original âdefinitionâ of Vibe CodingBUT, how do professionals feel about it?This is what I will cover in this article. We will look at:How people react to the term vibe coding,How their attitude differs based on who they are and their professional experienceThe reason for their stance towards âvibe codingâHow they feel about the impact âvibe codingâ will have in the next 5 yearsIt all started with this survey on LinkedIn. I have always been curious about how technology can support creatives and I believe that the only way to get a deeper understanding is to go beyond buzzwords and ask the hard questions. Thatâs why for over a year, Iâve been conducting weekly interviews with both the founders developing these tools and the creatives utilising them. If you want to learn their journeys, Iâve gathered their insights and experiences on my blog called XR AI Spotlight.Driven by the same motives and curious about peopleâs feelings about âvibe codingâ, I asked a simple question: How does the term âVibe Codingâ make you feel?Original LinkedIn poll by Gabriele RomagnoliIn just three days, the poll collected 139 votes and it was clear that most responders didnât have a good âvibeâ about it. The remaining half was equally split between excitement and no specific feeling.But who are these people? What is their professional background? Why did they respond the way they did?Curious, I created a more comprehensive survey and sent it to everyone who voted on the LinkedIn poll.The survey had four questions:Select what describes you best: developers, creative, non-creative professionalHow many years of experience do you have? 1â5, 6â10, 11â15 or 16+Explain why the term âvibe codingâ makes you feel excited/neutral/dismissive?Do you think âvibe codingâ will become more relevant in the next 5 years?: Itâs the future, only in niche use cases, unlikely, no idea)In a few days, I collected 62 replies and started digging into the findings, and thatâs when I finally started understanding who took part in the initial poll.The audienceWhen characterising the audience, I refrained from adding too many options because I just wanted to understand:If the people responding were the ones making stuffWhat percentage of makers were creatives and what developersI was happy to see that only 8% of respondents were non-creative professionals and the remaining 92% were actual makers who have more âskin in the gameâ with almost a 50/50 split between creatives and developers. There was also a good spread in the degree of professional experience of the respondents, but thatâs where things started to get surprising.Respondents are mostly âmakersâ and show a good variety in professional experienceWhen creating 2 groups with people who have more or less than 10 years of experience, it is clear that less experienced professionals skew more towards a neutral or negative stance than the more experienced group.Experienced professionals are more positive and open to vibe codingThis might be because senior professionals see AI as a tool to accelerate their workflows, while more juniors perceive it as a competitor or threat.I then took out the non-professional creatives and looked at the attitude of these 2 groups. Not surprisingly, fewer creatives than developers have a negative attitude towards âvibe codingâ, but the percentage of creatives and developers who have a positive attitude stays almost constant. This means that creatives have a more indecisive or neutral stance than developers.Creatives have a more positive attitude to vibe coding than developersWhat are people saying about âvibe codingâ?As part of the survey, everybody had the chance to add a few sentences explaining their stance. This was not a compulsory field, but to my surprise, only 3 of the 62 left it empty. Before getting into the sentiment analysis, I noticed something quite interesting while filtering the data. People with a negative attitude had much more to say, and their responses were significantly longer than the other group. They wrote an average of 59 words while the others barely 37 and I think is a good indication of the emotional investment of people who want to articulate and explain their point. Letâs now look at what the different groups of people replied.
Patterns in Positive Responses to âVibe CodingâPositive responders often embraced vibe coding as a way to break free from rigid programming structures and instead explore, improvise, and experiment creatively.âIt puts no pressure on it being perfect or thorough.ââPursuing the vibe, trying what works and then adapt.ââCoding can be geeky and laborious⊠âvibingâ is quite nice.âThis perspective repositions code not as rigid infrastructure, but something that favors creativity and playfulness over precision.Several answers point to vibe coding as a democratizing force opening up coding to a broader audience, who want to build without going through the traditional gatekeeping of engineering culture.âFor every person complaining⊠there are ten who are dabbling in code and programming, building stuff without permission.ââBridges creative with technical perfectly, thus creating potential for independence.âThis group often used words like âfreedom,â âreframing,â and ârevolution.â.
Patterns in Neutral Responses to âVibe CodingâAs shown in the initial LinkedIn poll, 27% of respondents expressed mixed feelings. When going through their responses, they recognised potential and were open to experimentation but they also had lingering doubts about the name, seriousness, and future usefulness.âItâs still a hype or buzzword.ââI have mixed feelings of fascination and scepticism.ââUnsure about further developments.âThey were on the fence and were often enthusiastic about the capability, but wary of the framing.Neutral responders also acknowledged that complex, polished, or production-level work still requires traditional approaches and framed vibe coding as an early-stage assistant, not a full solution.âNice tool, but not more than autocomplete on steroids.ââHelps get setup quickly⊠but critical thinking is still a human job.ââGreat for prototyping, not enough to finalize product.âSome respondents were indifferent to the term itself, viewing it more as a label or meme than a paradigm shift. For them, it doesnât change the substance of whatâs happening.âAt the end of the day they are just words. Are you able to accomplish whatâs needed?ââI think itâs been around forever, just now with a new name.âThese voices grounded the discussion in the terminology and I think they bring up a very important point that leads to the polarisation of a lot of the conversations around âvibe codingâ.
Patterns in Negative Responses to âVibe CodingâMany respondents expressed concern that vibe coding implies a casual, unstructured approach to coding. This was often linked to fears about poor code quality, bugs, and security issues.âFeels like building a house without knowing how electricity and water systems work.ââWithout fundamental knowledge⊠you quickly lose control over the output.âThe term was also seen as dismissive or diminishing the value of skilled developers. It really rubbed people the wrong way, especially those with professional experience.âIt downplays the skill and intention behind writing a functional, efficient program.ââVibe coding implies not understanding what the AI does but still micromanaging it.âLike for âneutralâ respondents, thereâs a strong mistrust around how the term is usedwhere itâs seen as fueling unrealistic expectations or being pushed by non-experts.âUsed to promote coding without knowledge.ââJust another overhyped term like NFTs or memecoins.ââIt feels like a joke that went too far.âUltimately, I decided to compare attitudes that are excitedand acceptingof vibe coding vs. those that reject or criticise it. After all, even among people who were neutral, there was a general acceptance that vibe coding has its place. Many saw it as a useful tool for things like prototyping, creative exploration, or simply making it easier to get started. What really stood out, though, was the absence of fear that was very prominent in the ânegativeâ group and saw vibe coding as a threat to software quality or professional identity.People in the neutral and positive groups generally see potential. They view it as useful for prototyping, creative exploration, or making coding more accessible, but they still recognise the need for structure in complex systems. In contrast, the negative group rejects the concept outright, and not just the name, but what it stands for: a more casual, less rigorous approach to coding. Their opinion is often rooted in defending software engineering as a disciplined craft⊠and probably their job.
âAs long as you understand the result and the process, AI can write and fix scripts much faster than humans can.â
âItâs a joke. It started as a joke⊠but to me doesnât encapsulate actual AI co-engineering.âOn the topic of skill and control, the neutral and positive group sees AI as a helpful assistant, assuming that a human is still guiding the process. They mention refining and reviewing as normal parts of the workflow. The negative group sees more danger, fearing that vibe coding gives a false sense of competence. They describe it as producing buggy or shallow results, often in the hands of inexperienced users.
âCritical thinking is still a human job⊠but vibe coding helps with fast results.â
âVibe-Coding takes away the very features of a good developer⊠logical thinking and orchestration are crucial.âCulturally, the divide is clear. The positive and neutral voices often embrace vibe coding as part of a broader shift, welcoming new types of creators and perspectives. They tend to come from design or interdisciplinary backgrounds and are more comfortable with playful language. On the other hand, the negative group associates the term with hype and cringe, criticising it as disrespectful to those whoâve spent years honing their technical skills.
âItâs about playful, relaxed creationâââfor the love of making something.â
Creating a lot of unsafe bloatware with no proper planning.âWhatâs the future of âVibe Codingâ?The responses to the last question were probably the most surprising to me. I was expecting that the big scepticism towards vibe coding would align with the scepticism on its future, but that was not the case. 90% of people still see âvibe codingâ becoming more relevant overall or in niche use cases.Vibe coding is here to stayOut of curiosity, I also went back to see if there was any difference based on professional experience, and thatâs where we see the more experienced audience being more conservative. Only 30% of more senior Vs 50% of less experienced professionals see vibe coding playing a role in niche use cases and 13 % Vs only 3% of more experienced users donât see vibe coding becoming more relevant at all.More experienced professionals are less likely to think Vibe Coding is the futureThere are still many open questions. What is âvibe codingâ really? For whom is it? What can you do with it?To answer these questions, I decided to start a new survey you can find here. If you would like to further contribute to this research, I encourage you to participate and in case you are interested, I will share the results with you as well.The more I read or learn about this, I feel âVibe Codingâ is like the âMetaverseâ:Some people hate it, some people love it.Everybody means something differentIn one form or another, it is here to stay.What professionals really think about âVibe Codingâ was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
#what #professionals #really #think #aboutWhat professionals really think about âVibe Codingâ
Many donât like it, buteverybody agrees itâs the future.âVibe Codingâ is everywhere. Tools and game engines are implementing AI-assisted coding, vibe coding interest skyrocketed on Google search, on social media, everybody claims to build apps and games in minutes, while the comment section gets flooded with angry developers calling out the pile of garbage code that will never be shipped.A screenshot from Andrej Karpathy with the original âdefinitionâ of Vibe CodingBUT, how do professionals feel about it?This is what I will cover in this article. We will look at:How people react to the term vibe coding,How their attitude differs based on who they are and their professional experienceThe reason for their stance towards âvibe codingâHow they feel about the impact âvibe codingâ will have in the next 5 yearsIt all started with this survey on LinkedIn. I have always been curious about how technology can support creatives and I believe that the only way to get a deeper understanding is to go beyond buzzwords and ask the hard questions. Thatâs why for over a year, Iâve been conducting weekly interviews with both the founders developing these tools and the creatives utilising them. If you want to learn their journeys, Iâve gathered their insights and experiences on my blog called XR AI Spotlight.Driven by the same motives and curious about peopleâs feelings about âvibe codingâ, I asked a simple question: How does the term âVibe Codingâ make you feel?Original LinkedIn poll by Gabriele RomagnoliIn just three days, the poll collected 139 votes and it was clear that most responders didnât have a good âvibeâ about it. The remaining half was equally split between excitement and no specific feeling.But who are these people? What is their professional background? Why did they respond the way they did?Curious, I created a more comprehensive survey and sent it to everyone who voted on the LinkedIn poll.The survey had four questions:Select what describes you best: developers, creative, non-creative professionalHow many years of experience do you have? 1â5, 6â10, 11â15 or 16+Explain why the term âvibe codingâ makes you feel excited/neutral/dismissive?Do you think âvibe codingâ will become more relevant in the next 5 years?: Itâs the future, only in niche use cases, unlikely, no idea)In a few days, I collected 62 replies and started digging into the findings, and thatâs when I finally started understanding who took part in the initial poll.The audienceWhen characterising the audience, I refrained from adding too many options because I just wanted to understand:If the people responding were the ones making stuffWhat percentage of makers were creatives and what developersI was happy to see that only 8% of respondents were non-creative professionals and the remaining 92% were actual makers who have more âskin in the gameâ with almost a 50/50 split between creatives and developers. There was also a good spread in the degree of professional experience of the respondents, but thatâs where things started to get surprising.Respondents are mostly âmakersâ and show a good variety in professional experienceWhen creating 2 groups with people who have more or less than 10 years of experience, it is clear that less experienced professionals skew more towards a neutral or negative stance than the more experienced group.Experienced professionals are more positive and open to vibe codingThis might be because senior professionals see AI as a tool to accelerate their workflows, while more juniors perceive it as a competitor or threat.I then took out the non-professional creatives and looked at the attitude of these 2 groups. Not surprisingly, fewer creatives than developers have a negative attitude towards âvibe codingâ, but the percentage of creatives and developers who have a positive attitude stays almost constant. This means that creatives have a more indecisive or neutral stance than developers.Creatives have a more positive attitude to vibe coding than developersWhat are people saying about âvibe codingâ?As part of the survey, everybody had the chance to add a few sentences explaining their stance. This was not a compulsory field, but to my surprise, only 3 of the 62 left it empty. Before getting into the sentiment analysis, I noticed something quite interesting while filtering the data. People with a negative attitude had much more to say, and their responses were significantly longer than the other group. They wrote an average of 59 words while the others barely 37 and I think is a good indication of the emotional investment of people who want to articulate and explain their point. Letâs now look at what the different groups of people replied.đ Patterns in Positive Responses to âVibe CodingâPositive responders often embraced vibe coding as a way to break free from rigid programming structures and instead explore, improvise, and experiment creatively.âIt puts no pressure on it being perfect or thorough.ââPursuing the vibe, trying what works and then adapt.ââCoding can be geeky and laborious⊠âvibingâ is quite nice.âThis perspective repositions code not as rigid infrastructure, but something that favors creativity and playfulness over precision.Several answers point to vibe coding as a democratizing force opening up coding to a broader audience, who want to build without going through the traditional gatekeeping of engineering culture.âFor every person complaining⊠there are ten who are dabbling in code and programming, building stuff without permission.ââBridges creative with technical perfectly, thus creating potential for independence.âThis group often used words like âfreedom,â âreframing,â and ârevolution.â.đ Patterns in Neutral Responses to âVibe CodingâAs shown in the initial LinkedIn poll, 27% of respondents expressed mixed feelings. When going through their responses, they recognised potential and were open to experimentation but they also had lingering doubts about the name, seriousness, and future usefulness.âItâs still a hype or buzzword.ââI have mixed feelings of fascination and scepticism.ââUnsure about further developments.âThey were on the fence and were often enthusiastic about the capability, but wary of the framing.Neutral responders also acknowledged that complex, polished, or production-level work still requires traditional approaches and framed vibe coding as an early-stage assistant, not a full solution.âNice tool, but not more than autocomplete on steroids.ââHelps get setup quickly⊠but critical thinking is still a human job.ââGreat for prototyping, not enough to finalize product.âSome respondents were indifferent to the term itself, viewing it more as a label or meme than a paradigm shift. For them, it doesnât change the substance of whatâs happening.âAt the end of the day they are just words. Are you able to accomplish whatâs needed?ââI think itâs been around forever, just now with a new name.âThese voices grounded the discussion in the terminology and I think they bring up a very important point that leads to the polarisation of a lot of the conversations around âvibe codingâ.đ€ź Patterns in Negative Responses to âVibe CodingâMany respondents expressed concern that vibe coding implies a casual, unstructured approach to coding. This was often linked to fears about poor code quality, bugs, and security issues.âFeels like building a house without knowing how electricity and water systems work.ââWithout fundamental knowledge⊠you quickly lose control over the output.âThe term was also seen as dismissive or diminishing the value of skilled developers. It really rubbed people the wrong way, especially those with professional experience.âIt downplays the skill and intention behind writing a functional, efficient program.ââVibe coding implies not understanding what the AI does but still micromanaging it.âLike for âneutralâ respondents, thereâs a strong mistrust around how the term is usedwhere itâs seen as fueling unrealistic expectations or being pushed by non-experts.âUsed to promote coding without knowledge.ââJust another overhyped term like NFTs or memecoins.ââIt feels like a joke that went too far.âUltimately, I decided to compare attitudes that are excitedand acceptingof vibe coding vs. those that reject or criticise it. After all, even among people who were neutral, there was a general acceptance that vibe coding has its place. Many saw it as a useful tool for things like prototyping, creative exploration, or simply making it easier to get started. What really stood out, though, was the absence of fear that was very prominent in the ânegativeâ group and saw vibe coding as a threat to software quality or professional identity.People in the neutral and positive groups generally see potential. They view it as useful for prototyping, creative exploration, or making coding more accessible, but they still recognise the need for structure in complex systems. In contrast, the negative group rejects the concept outright, and not just the name, but what it stands for: a more casual, less rigorous approach to coding. Their opinion is often rooted in defending software engineering as a disciplined craft⊠and probably their job.đ âAs long as you understand the result and the process, AI can write and fix scripts much faster than humans can.âđ€ź âItâs a joke. It started as a joke⊠but to me doesnât encapsulate actual AI co-engineering.âOn the topic of skill and control, the neutral and positive group sees AI as a helpful assistant, assuming that a human is still guiding the process. They mention refining and reviewing as normal parts of the workflow. The negative group sees more danger, fearing that vibe coding gives a false sense of competence. They describe it as producing buggy or shallow results, often in the hands of inexperienced users.đ âCritical thinking is still a human job⊠but vibe coding helps with fast results.âđ€źâVibe-Coding takes away the very features of a good developer⊠logical thinking and orchestration are crucial.âCulturally, the divide is clear. The positive and neutral voices often embrace vibe coding as part of a broader shift, welcoming new types of creators and perspectives. They tend to come from design or interdisciplinary backgrounds and are more comfortable with playful language. On the other hand, the negative group associates the term with hype and cringe, criticising it as disrespectful to those whoâve spent years honing their technical skills.đâItâs about playful, relaxed creationâââfor the love of making something.âđ€źCreating a lot of unsafe bloatware with no proper planning.âWhatâs the future of âVibe Codingâ?The responses to the last question were probably the most surprising to me. I was expecting that the big scepticism towards vibe coding would align with the scepticism on its future, but that was not the case. 90% of people still see âvibe codingâ becoming more relevant overall or in niche use cases.Vibe coding is here to stayOut of curiosity, I also went back to see if there was any difference based on professional experience, and thatâs where we see the more experienced audience being more conservative. Only 30% of more senior Vs 50% of less experienced professionals see vibe coding playing a role in niche use cases and 13 % Vs only 3% of more experienced users donât see vibe coding becoming more relevant at all.More experienced professionals are less likely to think Vibe Coding is the futureThere are still many open questions. What is âvibe codingâ really? For whom is it? What can you do with it?To answer these questions, I decided to start a new survey you can find here. If you would like to further contribute to this research, I encourage you to participate and in case you are interested, I will share the results with you as well.The more I read or learn about this, I feel âVibe Codingâ is like the âMetaverseâ:Some people hate it, some people love it.Everybody means something differentIn one form or another, it is here to stay.What professionals really think about âVibe Codingâ was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
#what #professionals #really #think #about
user map
English
Arabic
Spanish
Portuguese
Deutsch
Turkish
Dutch
Italiano
Russian
Romaian
Portuguese (Brazil)
Greek