Vibe Coding: The Difference Between Building Blindly and Building With Knowledge

2026-06-22 · Source: AI on Medium · Field: Technology & Digital — Software Development & Engineering, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning · Depth: Intermediate, medium

Summary

The article discusses "vibe coding," a term coined by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy, which describes building software primarily through natural-language prompts to AI without deep understanding of the generated code. While this approach offers exhilarating speed for prototypes and simple scripts, it risks replacing fundamental developer knowledge. A "blind build" can lead to unreadable, insecure, and unmaintainable code, exemplified by issues like slow data loading, SQL injection vulnerabilities, or insecure JWT implementations. Conversely, an "informed build" uses AI as a collaborator, requiring developers to read and understand critical generated code, especially concerning security, data, and financial logic. The piece emphasizes that "working" code is not always "correct" and highlights the danger of plausible correctness, delineating acceptable "vibe coding" areas (UI, boilerplate) from unacceptable ones (authentication, databases, payment flows, server-side logic, infrastructure).

Key takeaway

For Software Engineers or AI/ML Developers evaluating AI code generation tools, understand that while "vibe coding" accelerates prototyping and boilerplate, it poses significant risks for critical systems. You must act as the "senior developer" to the AI's "junior," diligently reviewing generated code for security, data integrity, and financial logic. Prioritize understanding over blind acceptance to prevent shipping unmaintainable or vulnerable applications, ensuring you build well, faster.

Key insights

"Vibe coding" offers speed but risks shipping unreadable, insecure code; informed builders must understand AI-generated output, especially for critical systems.

Principles

• "Working" code is not always "correct" code.
• AI optimizes for plausible correctness, not full context.
• Judgment, not prompting, is the most valuable AI-era skill.

Method

The "informed build" approach involves prompting AI for code, accepting the output, but then diligently reading and understanding critical sections before shipping, especially for security, data, and financial logic.

In practice

• Vibe code UI layouts and boilerplate.
• Avoid vibe coding authentication or payment logic.
• Read generated code touching security or user data.

Topics

• AI Code Generation
• Vibe Coding
• Software Security
• Code Maintainability
• Developer Judgment
• Prompt Engineering

Best for: CTO, VP of Engineering/Data, AI Architect, Software Engineer, AI Student, Director of AI/ML

Related on AIssential

• Top 10 Vibe Coding AI Tools Every Developer Should Use In 2026 — Vibe coding transforms developers into architects, using AI agents for intent-based programming and full-stack application deployment.
• Vibe Coding Isn’t the Problem. Not Understanding the Stack Is. — Understanding the full system stack, beyond application code, is critical for safe and effective AI-assisted development.
• Vibe Coding Ate My Homework: An evaluation of AI approaches to greenfield software engineering and programming — Vibe coding's hands-off approach is unreliable for complex greenfield software, despite initial efficiency gains.
• Vibe coding and agentic engineering are getting closer than I'd like — The increasing reliability of AI coding agents blurs the distinction between casual "vibe coding" and professional "agentic engineering."
• Vibe coding works… until your agent confidently builds the wrong thing — The provided interaction example illustrates the challenges of "vibe coding" when interacting with an AI agent.
• A new worst coder has entered the chat: vibe coding without code knowledge — Vibe coding tools enable rapid app creation but often produce insecure, unmaintainable code without developer oversight.

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by AI on Medium.