What is “vibe coding”? Well, “vibe coding” means relying heavily on AI-generated code (like from ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot), pasting it into your project, and rolling with it — even if you don’t fully understand how it works.
It’s like saying:
“I’m just letting the vibes guide me — I don’t really know what this code is doing, but it compiles, and it looks right, so… next.”
What This Looks Like
- Asking ChatGPT or Copilot for a solution
- Getting back chunks of unfamiliar code
- Testing it… it runs!
- Not deeply reading or understanding it
- Moving on to the next problem — also solved by vibes
Why This Happens
- AI tools make it easy to skip understanding in favor of speed
- Many users are self-taught or new, and AI fills knowledge gaps quickly
- Codebases and libraries are increasingly complex
- For some tasks, you don’t need deep understanding — it just needs to work
Risks of This Kind of Vibe Coding
- Harder to debug later when something breaks
- Security issues can sneak in unnoticed
- No long-term learning — just short-term patching
- Code becomes a black box you can’t maintain
When It’s Fine vs When It’s Dangerous
| It’s OK When… | It’s Risky When… |
|---|---|
| You’re prototyping or learning | It’s a production system |
| You’re experimenting creatively | Security or safety matters |
| You review the code eventually | You deploy without review |
| You test it thoroughly | You assume it’s bulletproof |
To make it even worse, you can “vibe code” an entire website or application and have no clue what’s happening. That’s fine when it’s a fun side project, but much worse when you deploy it to real users.
Yes — in today’s AI-heavy dev culture, “vibe coding” is often used half-jokingly to describe blindly trusting the AI to write your code, even if you don’t know what it’s doing. It’s efficient, fun, and a little chaotic — but without caution, it can lead to fragile or insecure software.
