I for one, never vibe-code any application, project or software I make. I use AI chats for bouncing off ideas, or clarification, but never the full project. More manual, definitely, but at least I know what I’m doing and not blindly entrusting it to another entity.
But I have seen AI-supported coding grown a lot over the last few months. It did originate as poorly-written or laced with vulnerabilities, perhaps, but I would say it has improved tons since then. The vibe-coded designs are still pretty recognizable (gradients, borders, emojis, etc), even in some plugins I’ve seen on Meta. But what’s important is that the author shared it for their own interests, and the interests of the community. Not for someone to stomp it down and labelled as ‘slop’, but because they have found genuine success in that plugin and want to share it for other forums out there who seek to obtain the same functionality.
I see your point on ethical concerns of AI, but that seems geared towards AI in general, like companies slicing up books, mass water and electric usage, etc. You mention:
But how does that correlate to the use of AI-made plugins or TCs? If you don’t like AI, sure, don’t use it. But the programming landscape as changed dramatically with AI’s introduction, and so things like plugins and TCs will too. Will you stop using Discourse entirely now, knowing that some code was help written by AI? I wouldn’t, because I know there’s still people behind it.
So will it still be accurate to call it ‘slop-coded’ and boycott the use of the term ‘vibe-coding’ (personally, I see no issues with the latter phrase)? Perhaps not. Is it too harsh? Yes. As much as I think you would dislike this, sometimes we have to adapt. Does that mean I will now make AI-generated TCs and share them? For me, no. But does that mean I will view it as a alternative, not to be shunned or looked down on? Yes. And I’m trying not to. So I hope you can too.