> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://madewithlove.com/blog/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Vibe coding and the junior developer dilemma
- URL: https://madewithlove.com/blog/vibe-coding-and-the-junior-developer-dilemma/
- Published: 2025-04-08T09:38:12.000Z
- Updated: 2026-05-18T18:01:28.000Z
- Description: AI tools are transforming how we code, but they're not replacing the experience needed to build real software. Let’s talk about what vibe coding gets right—and what it gets very wrong.
- Author: Andreas Creten
- Tags: AI, Ideas, AI development, Hiring and retention, AI strategy

There has been some hype around [vibe coding](https://x.com/karpathy/status/1886192184808149383) in the last weeks. YCombinator recorded [a podcast episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IACHfKmZMr8) on the phenomenon. I often get questions from founders and investors about how AI will change a programmer’s work.

We have been using GitHub Copilot and other (AI-powered) code completion tools for a while now. Editors like [Cursor](https://www.cursor.com/) and [Windsurf](https://codeium.com/windsurf) are getting better every day. I have been playing around with the latter for a pet project in the last weeks. Similar to what YC’s research surfaced, these editors are incredible in going from zero to one quickly. Still, you need to understand the code those editors are generating. Especially because LLMs are still terrible at debugging code. They are perfect for prototyping, maybe to [create an MVP](https://madewithlove.com/blog/the-minimum-viable-product-is-not-so-minimum-anymore/), but not to build a [MAP](https://davidcummings.org/2011/07/02/minimum-viable-product-or-minimum-acceptable-product/) or anything beyond that.

With the rise of powerful programming frameworks, open-source components, ready-made design systems, and now, [code generation tools](https://madewithlove.com/blog/smart-is-not-enough-three-criteria-to-select-ai-tools/), the lines of code an engineer needs to write to deliver a feature have only decreased over the last decades. **People often seem surprised when I explain that the value is not in the code itself but in the thinking that went into it**.

In the podcast, the YC folks argue that software engineers will morph into product engineers thanks to vibe coding. This has nothing to do with vibe coding; this trend has been going on for years. Some people call it the **10x engineer**. Ultimately, it does not matter which tools you use to get the result; humans will still do the creative part.

Another critical element is that you must know the limits of the tools at hand (and thus the code they generate). LLMs will not soon solve [complex software architecture problems](https://madewithlove.com/blog/how-a-cto-makes-technology-decisions/). We like to think of them as [junior developers](https://madewithlove.com/blog/beyond-junior-and-senior-labels-push-and-pull-developers/).

This brings me to another realisation: **the step-up for junior developers to become software engineers will become much more challenging**. [Experience is what defines a senior engineer](https://madewithlove.com/blog/seniority-level-in-software-engineering-and-how-to-assess-it/). How can inexperienced (*junior*) developers gain experience if LLMs take up their work?

## What happens when a business user actually ships one

Lovable lets non-engineers build a real app in minutes. The engineering team then inherits whatever came out the other end. A guide to surviving that handoff.

[Read: "Good news, I built it in Lovable"](https://madewithlove.com/blog/good-news-i-built-it-in-lovable-an-engineers-guide-to-surviving-that-sentence/)