"Vibe coding" is the new "Internet dating"

Skip to content

Joe M.

Developer and Author from Austin, TX.

"Vibe coding" is the new "Internet dating"

Posted on

Jun 10, 2026

ai
vibecoding
dating

Cast your mind back to the early 2000s…
Dating was very different.
For those living pre-iPhone there was no Tinder (2012), Hinge (2013), or Bumble (2014). Primarily desktop-driven apps like OKCupid (2004), eHarmony (2000), and the original, venerable, Match.com (1995) dominated.
Swiping as a fundamental dating U/X didn’t exist yet. Instead people specialized in long-form essays about why they traveled the world with their dog, or answered hundreds of questions about their hobbies, interests, and favorite foods, so they could be matched with their soulmate.
But mostly people felt a great deal of shame doing it all. My god the shame!
The term “Internet dating” was whispered between friends, or told to your family reluctantly after a Thanksgiving grill session. It wasn’t something respectable people did: Going online for dates was seen as a sign of desperation. Couldn’t you just meet someone nice in the real world?
Fast forward to today: The nomenclature has changed (“on the apps”) and the expectation around their use has changed along with them. Apps have become the default dating experience around the modern world. They’ve become so omnipresent, so ubiquitous, they’ve even provoked resentment as people wonder if trusting our collective love lives to corporations was actually a good idea.
As apps have become the dating experience for many singles, the old, niche, specialized term of “Internet dating” has become just… “dating.” App use is implied.
I’ve had the thought recently that “vibe coding” as a term has a very similar trajectory.
“Vibe coding” is supposed to reference coding with an AI. Not just coding with and AI but coding exclusively through an AI. “coding,” meanwhile, as a term, is supposed to denote a human-in-the-loop. Maybe you use an AI somewhat, but the program you produce is still chiefly the product of a human mind. Yours.
But how much longer will that be true?
There was a great article a while ago on Hacker News about how Agentic Coding and vibe coding are becoming worryingly similar. As AI gets better and better at coding, it needs less and less hand holding.
I’m optimistic. I believe there will always be a human in the loop because ultimately AI is just a tool - it needs a human wielding it, with human intent, to actually do work that matters.
But I do believe that all coding will be AI-assisted.
In that future world (which for some of us is already here), what meaning does the term “vibecoding” have anymore? If all coding is AI-assisted won’t it just be referred to as… “coding”?
I believe so. And in that future that greets us, the term will sound just as quaint as “Internet dating” does today.

Newer

Older

My book

"Excellent livre que je conseille a tout ceux qui s’intéressent aux bug bounty"

"[Excellent book that I recommend to all those interested in bug bounties]"

- Packt User

"Overall great hands on guide."

- DJ Sauer

Joe Marshall

Joe is a web application developer, independent security researcher, and writer.

His first book, Hands-On Bug Hunting for Penetration Testers, is out now.

My book

"Excellent livre que je conseille a tout ceux qui s’intéressent aux bug bounty"

"[Excellent book that I recommend to all those interested in bug bounties]"

- Packt User

"Overall great hands on guide."

- DJ Sauer

Hands-On Bug Hunting

Contact

Hire Me

Tags

rss feed

twitter

github

linkedin

© 2026 Joe Marshall

The evolution of terminology surrounding online dating offers a parallel trajectory for the concept of "vibe coding." Historically, dating in the early 2000s relied on desktop-driven platforms like Match.com and eHarmony, where interaction involved detailed, long-form self-descriptions, and the practice of swiping did not exist. This initial phase was characterized by a sense of shame surrounding online dating, as it was perceived as a sign of desperation rather than a respectable activity. As the landscape shifted to mobile applications such as Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble, the nomenclature evolved from the specific term “Internet dating” to the generalized term “dating,” reflecting the ubiquity of app-based experiences. This shift illustrates how specialized terms often fade when a concept becomes mainstream, as the context and expectations surrounding the activity change.

The author extends this observation to the emerging concept of "vibe coding," which refers to coding conducted exclusively through the assistance of artificial intelligence. The author contrasts this with the traditional understanding of coding, which implies a human-in-the-loop system, where the final product is primarily the result of human intention. The core question posed is how long the concept of "vibecoding" will persist once AI advancements increase the degree of automation in programming, particularly in relation to emerging concepts like Agentic Coding. While the author maintains optimism that a human element will always remain crucial because AI functions as a tool requiring human intent to execute meaningful work, the trajectory suggests that all coding will eventually be AI-assisted. Consequently, the author posits that in a future where coding is largely AI-assisted, the specific term "vibecoding" risks becoming as quaint as the historical term "Internet dating," potentially being subsumed by the general term "coding."