Argues vibecoding critics are themselves making unverified claims, since no one has actually shipped a complex AI-generated app like Photoshop or a self-hosting compiler.
Key Takeaways
Two years in, no vibecoded equivalents of Photoshop, Excel, Maya, Blender, or any architecture-heavy software exist – author treats this as proof the rhetoric is overblown.
Author frames software skill into three levels: Level 1 is syntax/typing (cheapened by AI), Level 2 is verification and testing, Level 3 is architectural decisions – AI only lowered Level 1 cost.
Critics who call things “vibecoded” are often Level 1 practitioners whose identity was tied to typing speed and syntax recall, not design or verification judgment.
Author’s own SoulPlayer project uses a 90-test Python harness requiring four bit-identical C64 assembly reference implementations to agree before shipping – offered as counter-evidence to the “no rigor” charge.
The real damage of the “vibecoded” accusation is social: it forces builders to spend time defending work instead of shipping, suppressing public sharing regardless of actual quality.
Hacker News Comment Review
Commenters broadly agreed vibecoding won’t produce Photoshop replacements, but reframed the outcome: personal-use micro-tools (image label printers, metadata-preserving converters) are the actual output, not market-competitive apps.
A concrete failure mode surfaced: AI-generated signal-processing apps (FFT, MFCC, cross-correlation) reliably produce polished UIs with broken core logic – exactly the Level 2 gap the author describes.
Some commenters noted the Photoshop example is a bad benchmark because Photopea already exists as a capable free alternative, undercutting the implied market vacuum.
Notable Comments
@TeMPOraL: Has shipped 3-4 vibe-coded browser tools – static, zero-build-step, client-side – each solving one specific personal problem, not competing with Photoshop.
@lionkor: “you don’t care at all if the tool you vibe-coded is any good” – vibecoded tools embed average open-source quality by default; the builder never knows what tradeoffs were made.
