[philote]

I recently had a coworker open my eyes to why vibe coding, or AI-assisted coding is so popular. He likened it to a slot machine, where pulling the slot's arm is like asking an LLM to code something. You get crap most of the time, but when it works, it's like getting a payout. That dopamine hit keeps them pulling, hoping for another hit, and they then believe it's a better way to develop software.

[user34283]

The difference is that you don't just pull again.

You guide the originally mediocre result towards a good outcome by providing feedback and potentially technical insights.

That's not a gamble, it works reliably enough.

[sph]

Oh that’s definitely it. Even Steve Yegge mad with vibecoded powers has said it feels a lot like gambling. I wouldn’t trust the judgment of gamblers talking about their ‘winnings’, so to speak.