Vibes won't cut it — Chris Kelly, Augment Code
Aug 3, 2025 · 15:34
Chris Kelly of Augment Code argues that vibe coding—letting AI write code without review—fails for production systems, where every line of code carries maintenance burden and decisions about architecture, packages, and trade-offs. He contends that code generation is not the job; software engineering is changing code safely, requiring context that LLMs lack despite their human-like output. Claims that generating 30% of code against millions of existing lines leaves little wiggle room, and that complex systems have emergent failures that pattern matching can't fix. He advises documented standards, reproducible environments, easy testing, clear boundaries, and defined tasks—tools every engineer needs. Cites Jeff Atwood: 'The best code is no code at all.' Notes professional engineers are slowest to adopt AI, and suggests code review is the most important skill for an AI-assisted future.
