How To Become a Vibe Coder
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 572 Ratings
🗓️ 21 August 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Vibe coding is everywhere, and it’s already drastically changing the tech industry — from shaping how software gets made to who gets hired. So back in July, our very own Lauren Goode went on a journey to become a vibe coder at one of San Francisco’s top startups. In this episode, she sits down with Mike to share her experience and they break down whether vibe coding really spells the end of coding as we know it.
Join us LIVE in San Francisco on September 9th
Articles mentioned in this episode:
- Vibe Coding Is Coming for Engineering Jobs | WIRED
- Cursor’s New Bugbot Is Designed to Save Vibe Coders From Themselves | WIRED
- Cheap AI Tools May Come at a Big Long-Term Cost
Join WIRED’s best and brightest on Uncanny Valley as they dissect the collision of tech, politics, finance, and business, from Alexis Ohanian's newest tech venture to the effects of inaccurate information from artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots on social protests.
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, this is Mike. Before we start, I want to share some exciting news with you. We're doing a live show in San Francisco on September 9th in partnership with the local station KQED. |
| 0:13.4 | Lauren and I will sit down with our editor-in-chief, Katie Drummond, and we'll have a special guest joining us for a conversation that you will not want to miss. |
| 0:22.1 | You can use the link in the show notes to grab your ticket and invite a friend. |
| 0:25.7 | We cannot wait to see you there. |
| 0:29.1 | Hi, Lauren. |
| 0:30.0 | Hey, Mike. |
| 0:30.6 | How you doing? |
| 0:31.5 | I am vibing. |
| 0:33.0 | How are you doing? |
| 0:34.1 | I'm glad to hear it. |
| 0:35.5 | You'll be so proud of me for something that I did this weekend. |
| 0:38.7 | Tell us. |
| 0:39.3 | I used the word compute as a noun. |
| 0:43.5 | What inspired this momentous occasion? |
| 0:46.8 | I'm so ashamed. |
| 0:48.0 | Okay. |
| 0:48.6 | But somebody was telling me about their project, and I said, that sounds like it's going to take a lot of compute. |
| 0:54.1 | You didn't say compute power take a lot of compute. |
| 0:59.9 | You didn't say compute power. You just said compute. Yeah. And you let it dangle. Yeah. And what did they say? |
| 1:46.1 | They agreed and nodded and moved on because it's been accepted to use the word compute improperly as a noun. It's short for computing resources or computing power. Yes. But all, you know, the AI people say compute as like a thing that exists in the world, which it is not. Computers are things that exist in the world. And what do computers do? They compute, right? It's a verb. Mike is shaking his fist at the clouds right now. I really am. Yeah, but you did it. No, I'm not proud of it. It slipped out. It's just because I'm immersed. I'm soaking in Silicon Valley. Why does its usage as a noun bother you so much? It's a personal thing. And I, like, you can't fight the youth. You can't, you know, |
| 1:51.3 | push back against this big wave of language trend. You just have to accept it. And I'm learning to accept it that people are just using compute, quote unquote, improperly all the time now. |
| 1:56.0 | And it's just part of our lives. First of all, I'm proud of you. Second of all, if you want to talk about it |
... |
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