↯ Vibe coders vs. old-school developers — two extremes, both missing the point.
On one side, you have vibe coders who don’t really understand what’s happening, depend on tokens and cloud tools, and can’t properly evaluate the result.
On the other, you have old-school developers who fetishize the ability to code “for real,” as if manual coding alone still guarantees an edge.
But the most dangerous group is somewhere in the middle — or rather, above that whole plane.
These are people who know how to program, but don’t turn programming into a cult. They got a new tool, and they’re exploring it seriously.
They don’t use AI just to increase output. Output comes as a side effect.
What they’re really increasing with AI is cognitive power:
✦ they understand more clearly what problem they’re actually dealing with,
✦ they explore the solution space faster,
✦ they choose the angle of attack more precisely,
✦ they test hypotheses faster,
✦ and they get better at spotting garbage, weak points, and good abstractions.
Those are the ones to beware of.