What is 'vibe coding' and why is it changing how software gets built?
Developers are describing what they want in natural language and letting AI write the code - they call it coding by vibes.
The answer
The term 'vibe coding,' coined by Andrej Karpathy (former Tesla AI director and OpenAI researcher) in early 2025, describes a new programming paradigm where developers describe desired functionality in natural language and AI generates the implementation code. Instead of writing syntax line by line, vibe coders focus on architecture, design, and high-level intent - trusting AI tools to handle the implementation details. The approach became widespread in 2025 as AI coding assistants grew sophisticated enough to generate entire features, write tests, debug errors, and refactor code from conversational prompts. While critics warned about code quality and security risks, proponents argued that vibe coding democratizes software creation and lets experienced developers operate at a higher level of abstraction, similar to how high-level programming languages abstracted away assembly code.
Source: InfoWorld
- vibe-coding
- ai-coding
- karpathy
- software
More from AI & Machine Learning
- What radical question did Alan Turing ask in 1950 that launched the entire field of artificial intelligence?
- Can a machine fool you into thinking it's human - and does that mean it's truly intelligent?
- What happened at a small Dartmouth workshop in 1956 that gave artificial intelligence its name?
- How did a 1958 invention called the Perceptron convince people that machines could learn like brains?
- Could a 1966 chatbot really make people believe they were talking to a therapist?
- What was the first robot that could 'reason' about its own actions?