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Developers and vibe coding: 4 survival tips in the AI age
Programmers can stay a step ahead of AI agents and vibe coding by focusing on four areas: precise AI prompts, a broad architectural perspective, keen analysis and imagination.
AI agents can sling code faster than any human can, although they need some oversight as a junior programmer would. Watch my recent walkthrough of vibe coding with Replit and GitHub Copilot and you'll see for yourself.
The question becomes: If not slinging code, what else will human programmers do? The following examples explore how developers can survive when vibe coding becomes a commonplace practice.
Determine which programming languages and frameworks to use
An AI agent such as Replit or GitHub Copilot can only do what it's told to do. Basic decisions about which language or coding framework to use remain in the developer's hands, although a developer can ask the AI agent to suggest a specific language for a given use case.
For now, and the foreseeable future, the final decision of programming languages and frameworks rests with the developer and the enterprise's technical management. They must understand the benefits and tradeoffs of programming languages and make informed decisions about when and how to use them accordingly.
Think creatively about software development and architecture
AI is very good at replicating patterns, because the models that drive AI process existing information. However, AI tends to run into problems when it tries to imagine new things. If it hasn't been done before, AI is going to have a hard time doing it.
AI itself confirms this assertion. Recently, I posed a question to the Perplexity AI chatbot: Would it have been possible for AI to create a programming framework, such as object-oriented programming, before the framework existed? Here is the final paragraph of its very long answer:
In summary, with the state of AI at the time object-oriented programming was invented, it would not have been possible for AI to create such a framework. Today's AI, while capable of generating code and suggesting improvements, still builds on existing paradigms and data -- not inventing entirely novel ones from a blank slate.
One thing humans are particularly skilled at versus intelligent machines and AI is imagination. So, developers must think up things that have never existed before. Creativity is transferable to a wide variety of endeavors, even software development.
Creativity is also a capability that must be nurtured and strengthened through exercise. Engage in a broad range of creative activities, such as learning to cook new cuisines, woodworking or writing poetry.
Human intelligence and imagination came together to look at a motorcycle and a pair of skis and see the idea of a snowmobile. It will take some time before AI agents are able to perform at that level.
See the bigger picture
Slinging code and identifying and fixing errors is the bread and butter of entry-level and maintenance programmers -- and it will be turned over to AI agents as soon as possible. They are less costly than human programmers (calculated by hardware and electricity usage), they don't complain, they don't need vacations and they don't have personality foibles to be accommodated.
AI agents, however, cannot do everything that a human developer can, at least for the foreseeable future. Therefore, developers need to think about tomorrow's technology landscape and focus on large-scale architectural design and implementations. Further into the future, developers must devise innovative processes and technologies to address needs not yet envisioned.
Hone your analytical skills
Developers also must possess Ph.D.-level capabilities to create new knowledge for others to use. This means extraordinary analytical skills and the ability to synthesize a wide variety of facts and situations into something new. Sadly, those advanced thinking skills are currently confined to a small portion of the population. This should change in general society and absolutely must in software development.
Moving forward, more people will need these capabilities to participate in the world of modern software development. The ability to think with an extraordinary level of creativity, which AI cannot, will be essential.
Bob Reselman is a software developer, system architect and writer. His expertise ranges from software development technologies to techniques and culture.
