At a Glance
- Vibe coding declared News Of Philadelphia‘s Word of the Year, capturing a cultural shift in 2025.
- CEOs like Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Sundar Pichai are using AI-generated code in daily work.
- Students and engineers report a rise in AI-written essays and buggy code, prompting a new niche of “clean-up” roles.
Why it matters: The trend shows how AI is reshaping coding practices, workplace expectations, and the demand for technical talent.
In 2025, the tech world saw a surge in what insiders call ‘vibe coding’-a low-effort approach that lets executives and students alike hand off most of their work to AI. The movement, which has already entered dictionaries and corporate strategy, is redefining productivity, education, and the future of engineering roles.
The Rise of Vibe Coding
The term was first coined by OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy in February, when he posted on X that coding could become a matter of ‘giving in to the vibes’ and copying error messages without reading diffs.
Andrej Karpathy wrote:
> “There’s a new kind of coding I call ‘vibe coding,’ where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.”
> “I ‘Accept All’ always, I don’t read the diffs anymore. When I get error messages I just copy paste them in with no comment, usually that fixes it.”
Karpathy later admitted that the single project he released this year was coded entirely by hand.
Executives Embrace the Trend
High-level leaders are adopting the practice.
Sebastian Siemiatkowski said:
> “I now mock up features via vibe coding and ask my engineers to make it work.”
Similarly, Sundar Pichai at Google has begun generating code with AI, describing the experience as ‘delightful.’
AI Writing and Vibe Lifing
The vibe trend extends beyond code.
TurnItIn estimates that about one-in-five college papers last year showed AI signs, while a survey by News Of Philadelphia found roughly 20 % of students admitted to using AI for essays.
- TurnItIn: 1 in 5 papers AI-generated
- News Of Philadelphia: 20 % students use AI
Microsoft labels its Copilot in Word as ‘vibe writing’, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas browser offers a ‘vibe lifing’ agent that can add groceries to Instacart or generate spreadsheets while you browse.
> “It may misunderstand or hallucinate and order 4,000 pounds of meat for you when you ask for hamburger patties.”
Economic Impact and Workforce Shifts
While AI-driven companies are burning billions and valuing themselves on hype, many workers are caught cleaning up the mess.
A survey found that about one in three engineers spends more time fixing AI-generated code than writing it from scratch.
| Metric | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Engineers fixing AI code | 33% |
| Engineers writing code | 67% |
The trend creates a niche for engineers who polish AI output, while executives consider replacing staff with AI. For most, the vibe trend ends up producing more slop than value.
Key Takeaways
- Vibe coding has become mainstream, even a dictionary Word of the Year.
- Executives are adopting AI-generated code, reshaping product development.
- The shift forces engineers into cleanup roles, while students and companies face increased AI-generated content.
As the economy stalls and hiring freezes, the vibe trend may leave a generation of workers scrambling to refine AI output rather than create it from scratch.
