Vibecoder

Real development still seems like something very distant and extremely complex - LLM systems, backend, servers, architecture. Darkness. But here's what's strange: I've been working in VS Code with Copilot for five months now, and, damn, I'm so used to it that I just don't want to do it any other way.

I don't know how to write code. I practically don’t understand what’s going on there. All I operate with are variables in SCSS, the basic logic “this script takes the date, converts it to the required format and sends it to the main script.” What's inside? What functions? No idea at all. I'm not interested. I only describe the logic of the work and what result I need.

Developing with GPT turned out to be a lot of fun. You come up with architecture, interfaces, features - and someone instantly turns it into reality. Sometimes with bugs, but this is usually solved in a couple of hours: in 1–10 requests you can get a working function and in another 10–20 bring it to ideal.

And this is a deception

It seems that it has become easier. In fact, everything just got faster. More tasks, more expectations, less time to think, every hiccup or downtime feels like an unfulfilled mountain of other tasks.

It's like you're sitting behind the wheel of a racing car with autopilot. And instead of driving more calmly, you simply crash at 300 km/h into even more difficult tasks.

They seem to be helping you, but this is not rest. This is the afterburner.

GPT doesn't make it easy. He speeds up. And you must keep up. It doesn't take the load off you - it changes its character. Instead of 2 tasks a day, you now have 20. And everything needs to be kept in mind, explained, written down, brought to mind, tested, turned over and not go crazy.

Professional vibe coder

I learned to talk to GPT, got to the edge of its capabilities, I see where it is stupid, where it is outright cunty, and which task it is most likely to pass on. I no longer need a review of his code - I can see from the response when the nonsense begins. Much like in marketing texts, where “with character” and “without noise” have become generation markers, I am blown away every time I see these patterns in “selling” texts.

The entry threshold even for such development will still be very high, in order not just to get some kind of application layout, but a working tool, and one that the market will need. My experience in developing large-scale zero-code projects in Spark AR, Effect House and Lens Studio now helps me a lot - this is all proprietary software for creating AR effects.

What about design?

And now, after a dozen closed tasks on the site: connecting payment for goods, automatically sending digital goods, connecting markdown markup for these articles - I opened Photoshop, Figma.

And I realized: I am alone. No chat. No agent. No one to talk to about the task.

Familiar tools suddenly seemed prehistoric, made for dinosaurs.

It’s as if they handed you a paper form and a pen: “fill it out.”

I don’t even want to start because I realize the uselessness of these skills, that even if I now became a Photoshop guru, this would be my “swan song”

We designers get stuck with tools.

We've been studying Photoshop for years, hanging ourselves with plugins and style sets, crutches.

We spend months learning to save minutes.

Because we don’t have any other options yet.

And they are already in the code.

Code is structure. It has become a medium for dialogue. I ask - he offers. I doubt it - he clarifies. I change my mind - he refactors. You are no longer alone there. It’s like there are two of you there.

What about design? Agents are still only on paper. More precisely, on landing pages.

They are stupid, monotonous, dead. I'm not talking about those rails that are shown in presentations. I'm talking about real work - about real tasks. Where you need results.

My experience

In my design pipeline, neural networks make up ten percent.

And not because I’m a retrograde, but because I’m a realist.

I know they can. And I know what they can’t do yet.

And this “for now” is infuriating. Because I've already seen how it can be. In code - maybe. Not in design yet.

And on the one hand, this is frustration.

On the other hand, this is creativity. Not yet.

And maybe that’s the thrill - I found myself in between.

Between system and chaos. Between tools and intuition.

Between precise logic and pixel jerking.

Developing with agents is no relief. This is a new form of gravity.

You write less with your hands, but think more with your head.

You explain more. You see more. You carry more.

Output

Maybe I'm not a developer in the classical sense.

But development now is not about the classical sense.

This is thinking. This is a dialogue. This is a partnership with a machine, where it is not the buttons that matter, but the intention.

But design remains about loneliness, reflection and search. One screen, one cursor, one you.

But this is temporary.

The agents will come. Fortunately or unfortunately, it doesn’t matter anymore. It's inevitable.

So perhaps the most important skill today is not choosing sides.

And learn to live at the intersection. Where structure meets chaos.

Where you not only code or draw, but assemble a system from meanings.

Where are you - not a specialist, but a synthesizer.

And maybe this is exactly what a profession is.

The profession of a creator of new times.