Hello programmers! I’ve been making a living for a couple of decades figuring out stuff for people and coding whatever will make them happy. It’s fun. I’ve grown to prefer the people to the coding but I still get a kick out of the whole thing.
The problem is: at the job we’re being asked to pivot to vibe coding. At this point the order is to use it for all code, read the slop carefully, argue with the machine for way too long and only then open that PR. Massive productivity gains are expected. I’m appalled from an ethical, philosophical and professional standpoint. We’re a non-profit ngo ffs. My colleagues are fine with it. If I get even slightly critical the group goes awkwardly silent and I get comments on how all the programmers they know from other places don’t code anymore.
If this is how it goes from now on, I’m out. Is it really though? Are all businesses switching to vibe coding? Have some of you started switching career? I think I want to go to meatspace. Hand-made coding could make a cute hobby.
I genuinely can’t understand how anyone can work in tech and not find this stuff incredibly exciting. I acknowledge that all the stuff about AGI and singularities is bullshit, that the cast of characters promoting it is full of idiots and hucksters, and that there is a wild financial bubble behind that is going to pop catastrophically (and hopefully take OpenAI and Anthropic down with it) - but at the same time, it is one of the most exciting technological achievements of my lifetime and just being able to be a tiny part of it makes it an amazing time to be alive.
I question if any of the neo-luddites actually ever had any love of the industry they work in if the current progression of LLMs doesn’t amaze and inspire them.