I am a software developer. I enjoy AI. I do think in the right use cases it can be helpful. It has definitely revolutionized the way I work personally. Being able to rubber duck debug with a robot has been super helpful, as well as just cut through any bs and get an answer on any questions. Even asking the robot to code any boilerplate structures, or repeating repetitive code helps a lot and makes me more efficient! Sometimes when things go well, I am magnitudes more productive then I have been in the past. And that’s great. It can also be used for creativity, and really make you see other ideas that you may not have considered.
BUT.
You know there’s gotta be a but.
People worshipping AI goes too far in my opinion, and even worse, it’s simply dangerous. We shouldn’t put any technology on a pedestal. Not just because there are countless media written about this (“2001 Space Odyseey”, “Savior Machine” by David Bowie, many others), but that what causes us to lose our humanity.
And I will say, as the daughter of an artist, and the sibling of an artist (may he rest in piece), I do not like AI generation of art and video. I quickly discovered my “ethical weathervane” of AI use, and something I hold on to. Essentially, the use of AI becomes unethical once it replaces someone who I would’ve paid someone before the advent of AI. Now, if I hire an artist to make me, say sprites for a game, I honestly can care less whether or not they use AI, as long as it doesn’t look like it in the finished product. But if they use AI for a reference or maybe for a shading or creating a render? Not my place to speak out.
I am not a big fan of vibecoding, especially with the rise of “Ralph Wiggum”-esque automation – essentially constantly looping an AI agent to create a better outcome. While pretty cool in theory, it is dangerous. I fully believe, the AI works better with human intellect in the loop. Someone who knows the technology, knows basic design skills, etc. Otherwise, the potential of security risks among other things, is way too dangerous. Vibecoding is how we get slop, and there are numerous books written about errors in Software Development causing fatalities. Now, a “tea app” may not cause fatal harm…but when people have a hammer, they desperately want to nail everything. One day we will probably have a airplane software (or in a classic example, a chemotherapy machine, or an X-Ray machine), with vibecoded software, and causing someone’s unfortunate demise. Then who will be responsible for that? You can’t put Claude Code in jail.
AI is a fascinating technology, and I think it has the potential to change a lot of things. But the three paragraphs above, as well as companies endlessly hyping it up, shoving it in products where I feel like it doesn’t belong, and essentially people going around acting as literal preachers and prophets of a digital God, contributes with the technology’s lack of popularity amongst regular individuals. I think with responsibility, like any tool, it can be a great boon. But I feel we have been too irresponsible with the technology, hyping it up as “YOU MUST USE THIS OR YOU WILL FAIL”, and creating essentially buggy and ugly slop.