- We are F.
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- Vibecoding! (permalink)
I see people in my circles (i.e. hardcore AAA/system/graphics devs) not understanding this "vibecoding" idea - so let me share my 2c.
First of all. Have you tried to code with LLMs? And by that I don't mean something like: open chatgpt, ask to make a shadertoy/raytracer/whatever from scratch, laugh at the results. I mean, really tried - copilot (VisualStudio or VSCode) or cursor, as a daily driver in python or C++ etc, replacing intellisense. Have you tried creating projects, and giving context and documentation to the LLM? If not - start there. Mere intellectual curiosity should mean we try to understand new technologies, right?
Now, that said - let me shock you. I think "vibecoding" (the idea of letting an LLM code with little surpervision) is incredibly interesting!
And I don't mean just to write small utilities and throw-away stuff - where it's absolutely great, but as a legitimate way of programming even small commercial applications and games.
Yes, it will make something relatively crappy. And yes, obviously, you, an experienced programmer, will do a ton better. In my experience, LLMs are circa as good as having a very diligent, tireless but not particularly bright intern.
Anything that any freshmen programmer would reasonably be expected to be able to write, they will, correctly. If something requires true expertise or true creativity, it often becomes easier to write stuff yourself (and that's why LLMs-as-intellisense are much more practical for complex stuff than chat-based LLM, btw - they just save you a ton of typing).
But there is a TON of programming in that area! Almost all experiments in new websites, small apps, even games, can be done that way. Remember when the web (1.0) was actually creative? Stuff like the "one million dollar page" - or even stuff like MySpace... Or... instagram... snapchat...
tinder... Well, pretty much everything, really, in percentage.
Yes! They won't write the Call of Duty engine. Yes, lots of people using LLMs are not "real programmer" nor "real gamedevs". So what? There was a time when we all were not "real programmers". I started writing "code" when I was single-digit-aged, on a C64. Did I know what I was doing? Hell no! And what's the problem with that? With tinkering?
I'd make you a bet. In the next, say 5 years, there will be out there a one-billion-dollar company that gets sold and that started as a "vibecoding" thing from someone who knew nothing and learned along the way.
And that company likely will end up hiring a bunch of programmers, once it needs to scale, that really know their deal - that's not a problem.
I understand that there is a lot of hype around "AI" these days, but it's not intelligent to react to the hype with an equal amount of hate.
p.s. & btw, as much as I hate hype too - I also think it's to some degree, inevitable, as it's both human and to some degree rational economics, as it's not that you can know exactly who's going to win and perfectly allocate capital only on the few companies that will make it in the end.
p.p.s. interestingly, a side-effect of this "vibecoding" thing, if it ever becomes big enough to really make a dent on how certain ideas are explored - is that it will be much more "decentralized" and "anarchist" and all the other things (some) nerds like. Before, you needed myspace to create your funky little corner of the internet, not all would learn HTML and publish on geocities. This thing, the fact that LLMs can reasonably use any library that is popular enough or that at least is conceptually mainstream enough to be "understood" with some documentation, implies that big platforms and vendors have less of a hold.
Sat, 22 Mar 2025 17:32:35 -0700
- We are F. (permalink)
Listen, I'd love not to journal about politics every time, but this is the time we live in and this is what I think about.
I hate people throwing out the word fascism casually. Words are important.
Abusing them devalues their meaning.
The executive order against Perkins Coie is fascist.
Yes, it's not the first illegal executive action that was done clearly knowing it was illegal and it was going to be stopped by judges, but in all other cases there was still a veneer of what could be called cunning politics - the administration had the power to go through the congress (unquestionably, let's not kid ourselves) but went the illegal way both for showmanship and expedience and because they liked the idea of going to the supreme court for a chance of getting the presidential powers expanded.
Win-win-win.
This Perkins Coie order is different. It's something that I don't believe the congress would have passed. It's something done knowing that most of the damage is in the order itself, even if it gets overturned, it doesn't matter. In other words, it's the president enacting absolute power over the most fundamental of the democratic counterbalances. It not only destroys a private law firm, but it muzzles all the others - which in fact are staying silent, like good lap dogs.
Yes, this is fascist. There is no other way of characterizing it. And I'm sure everyone knows, it's not that these people are so delusional that they don't get it. They know, and they love it.
Absolute power.
Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:03:48 -0700