To say that AI has reshaped a lot of fields in one way or another would be an understatement. Programming, though, might be the field where the pace of change feels faster than almost anything else. It began with copying snippets of code out of a ChatGPT window and pasting them into an IDE. Then came AI-powered inline suggestions and tab completion. Now, we're in the era of agentic coding tools like Cursor, Antigravity, and Claude Code, where, in addition to generating lines and lines of code, the AI is capable of actually doing tasks for you instead of telling you how to do them. This includes reading your codebase, creating new files, running commands, and building features end-to-end while you simply prompt and watch.

Rather than each of these "eras" taking years, the changes happened in a matter of months. And while the worry about how all this plays out for the future of software and the engineers behind it is real and an important conversation worth having, that's not what this article is about. Instead, it's about how, somewhere in that blur of change, programming got genuinely, unexpectedly fun again - thanks to what people are calling vibe coding.

No, I'm not talking about building the next startup

Not everything needs to be a product

Before I go any further, I just want to make it incredibly clear that I'm not talking about "vibe coding" as yet another startup. I understand why anyone would be quick to jump to that conclusion, given that a new AI-powered B2B SaaS seems to launch every fifteen minutes. Similarly, LinkedIn and X are full of people vibe-coding paid software and calling themselves founders.

That's not what I'm referring to at all here. Instead, I'm talking about building things for yourself. No one else — just yourself. The little scripts that automate tiny yet tedious parts of your day. The random app idea you've had for years at the back of your mind that you never really pursued because it would've meant spending hours learning to code for something only you would ever use. The tools nobody else would ever need or care about, but that make your life meaningfully easier. Random Chrome extensions that don't already exist. And simply… to experience the world of coding and making your own cool stuff, without the steep learning curve that's kept most people out.

When you hear the term "vibe coding," the very first argument people make is that AI-powered coding has massive security concerns. And that's a completely fair point. But it's also a concern that applies to software you're putting out into the world. When you're building something that lives on your own machine and serves an audience of one, the conversation is entirely different.

It's never been easier to start building

The barrier has never been lower

Previously, if you had a random app idea or even wanted to make a portfolio for yourself, you typically had two routes you could take: hire a developer or learn how to code yourself. The first option required a lot of money — explaining a complex idea that you understood best to someone else, then going back and forth through revisions until their execution matched your vision.

The second option required a lot of time. With traditional coding, the pace at which you see results is painfully slow, especially as a beginner. You spend weeks watching tutorials and debugging stubborn errors before seeing anything remotely close to what you imagined. And since nobody’s paying you to finish and there’s no deadline but your own, not seeing results quickly enough can sometimes be enough to make you quit.

I say all of the above based on personal experience. Before AI came into the picture, I spent hours and hours trying to build random ideas that never made it past a half-working prototype. But now, I can build a working prototype of the same idea in just a few hours by vibe-coding it. As long as I can describe it in plain English, the AI can build it.

Even if it’s half-baked in the beginning, I’m iterating on something that works rather than staring at a tutorial wondering why nothing does.

Once you start, you'll begin seeing projects everywhere

It's an addiction

With most hobbies, once you start, you keep wanting to do more. The same thing happens here. Once you build one small thing and see it work, your brain starts spotting tiny inefficiencies everywhere. A repetitive task. A messy spreadsheet. A workflow you’ve just accepted as “the way it is.” Before you know it, your mind automatically begins thinking of solutions you could vibe-code to potentially simplify them.

Something you might have heard before is that the best products come from scratching your own itch — from building something you genuinely need. When you’re vibe coding, that instinct kicks in naturally since you're just solving small problems in your own life. Even if you're building something purely for fun, the thrill of seeing a random idea you had in your head come to life on your screen is incredibly satisfying.

Vibe coding is actually an excellent way to learn how to code

Build first, learn along the way

Now, here's something not a lot of people will agree with: I think the best way to learn how to code currently is by building things you actually care about and letting the code teach you along the way.

You begin by describing your idea exactly the way it is in your head, in simple plain English. You let the AI work its magic by writing the code, and then begin noticing patterns. You pick up the syntax and eventually understand why things work (and why they don't). You run into errors, your code completely breaks, you describe the problem to the AI, and in watching it fix things, you start understanding how the pieces fit together.

The traditional path is learn first, build later. Vibe coding flips it: build first, learn along the way. With the traditional path, the motivation to keep going isn't always there unless you genuinely enjoy coding for its own sake. But most people don't want to learn to code. They want to build something. And that's a completely different kind of motivation.

There's a reason why non-developers can't stop talking about vibecoding

Rather than looking at vibe coding as a threat to programmers, look at it as the thing that finally made coding accessible to everyone else. I've seen people say that vibe coding is the equivalent of writing nowadays — a fundamental skill for the modern world.

Try it. Seriously. Pick one random idea you've always had but haven't been able to bring to life, and vibe-code it. You might not stop.