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.

  • kibiz0r@midwest.socialEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    There’s a long history of codegen fads. This isn’t the first one. (Though it does have many unprecedented aspects.)

    Here are some thoughts to bring you comfort:

    1. This can’t last. Everything from the economics of the vendors, to the inevitability of customers blowing their limbs off, to the diminishing returns on an AI-heavy process, to the depletion of the talent pool that makes responsible supervision/auditing possible, to impending model collapse… It has to end eventually. It may take a while, but it will happen.
    2. In the meantime, with tokens being sold way below cost, you can get a helluva deal on some cheap custom software if you’re smart about where and how you use it. I’m “encouraged” to use AI at work, and 90% of my use is for peripheral tools to make my own workflow easier — not load-bearing production code.
    3. It makes a fantastic cover for skunkworks projects. If you have a thing you’ve been wanting to do but can’t get it through the front door, use it as a “test project” for AI. You don’t have to actually vibe code it. Have Claude write some docs or commit messages or some esoteric test suite. Just something you can point to.
    • bretton.dev@coves.social
      0·
      3 days ago

      What is the last fad that the entire industry adopted in 9 months?

      If cost per intelligence is going down, and compute capacity is rising I can’t see a world where token pricing will go up.

      • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
        0·
        2 days ago

        All of those data centers, chips, and the power and water needed to run them cost money. They need to make revenue to cover that cost. Where is that revenue going to come from? It’s going to come from their customers.

        Just the electricity costs alone on the number of data centers they’re talking about building is going to be expensive. To make a 5% return on a trillion dollar investment they need to make 50 billion in profit. That’s above the costs of the electricity, water, and replacing the chips, and they do need to cover the initial fixed costs of building those data centers.

        They’re currently losing money hand over fist, and that’s with them cooking the books on the depreciation of the chips. The investors aren’t going to subsidize the costs forever, eventually when they start demanding a return on their investment, we enter the enshittification phase. How are they going to balance their budgets without raising the price?