When everything is vibing

You’ve heard of vibe coding, right? 

Vibe coding, a phrase coined by Andrej Karpathy in February, means using natural language to tell an AI tool what you want your software to do, and letting AI write the code for you.

The top three vibe-coding platforms are Hostinger Horizons, Lovable, and Bolt.new. By signing up with these services and simply talking (or typing), you can build your own apps. 

The stoned face of vibe coding is one Rene Turcios. The son of Missouri circus folk, Turcios smokes weed and wins app-building hackathons while high, despite lacking coding or software engineering knowledge. Now he’s a sought-after app developer who builds vibe-coded apps in hours for businesses and teaches others how to vibe code.

The idea of “vibing” instead of coding to create apps is mocked. But vibe coding isn’t a joke. It’s just ahead of the curve. 

The concept of achieving complicated tasks by talking to AI is happening all around us. 

Vibe browsing

The Browser Company, the people who make the Arc browser, recently released an AI-focused browser called Dia. The browser, currently in an invitation-only beta, takes a vibe-coding approach to using a browser, meaning that you talk to it and it does complicated things for you. It can summarize articles, answer questions, and interact with open tabs and videos, which aligns with the vibe coding ethos of achieving complex results with minimal expertise.

Dia is part of a larger trend. Perplexity launched its Chromium-based Comet browser this month, using Perplexity as its default search engine and featuring a built-in AI assistant. The browser aims to streamline workflows, allowing users to highlight text for instant explanations, explore related ideas, and get counterpoints without losing their place. Comet can also compare information across tabs, help with tasks like comparing insurance plans, booking hotels or making purchases. 

The biggest news in this space comes from OpenAI, which is expected to launch its Chromium-based browser this month. We can expect a ChatGPT-style interface and integrated AI agents capable of performing tasks directly on web pages. These agents, including one called Operator, can automate actions like filling out forms, booking reservations, summarizing content, and conducting research. 

These new “vibe browsers” are designed to replace complex browsing with simple, natural language interaction. 

Vibe settings

Microsoft began rolling out a new feature for Copilot+ PCs in May that lets you change settings and fix problems by typing or saying what you want in plain English. If you say, “my mouse pointer is too small,” the AI will find the right setting and, if you approve it, make the change for you, according to Microsoft. This works on Windows 11, first on Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs, with Intel and AMD support coming soon. The feature runs locally and works in English, with more languages promised.

Vibe automation

Samsung announced this month that its SmartThings platform now lets people create home automation routines just by typing what they want in plain language. Anyone using the SmartThings app on Android or iOS can now write a simple phrase like “Turn off all the lights when I leave the house,” and the system will set up the routine automatically, without any need to mess around with device settings or menus.

This new Routine Creation Assistant uses genAI to understand requests and build the automations. The update also brings features such as Delay Actions, which let users schedule steps in a routine at different times, and Confirm to Run, which asks for approval before running a routine in shared homes. 

Vibe mobility

Perplexity is working with Deutsche Telekom to launch an “AI Phone” in Europe in 2026 for less than $1,000. The main interface will be Perplexity’s AI assistant, which can answer questions, book taxis, reserve tables, send emails, make calls, and translate text, all with natural language interaction, according to the companies. The product intends to enable smartphone use without the user explicitly using apps, instead just talking to the phone. 

Vibe communication

People use AI chatbots like ChatGPT and others to write research papers, presentations, and emails by simply describing what they want. This is the vibe-coding approach to communication. (I don’t recommend using AI to write for you, and instead encourage readers to do your own work and then consult AI only at the end of the process.)

Dedicated tools like HyperWrite, MailMaestro, ContentStudio’s AI Email Writer, and Snov.io’s AI Email Writer are designed to vibe-code your way through the world of business communication.

Why ‘vibing’ is a horrible description

While “vibe coding” has emerged as the label for using AI to make apps without coding knowledge, it’s a bad label.  In American slang, “vibing” means enjoying the moment, feeling good or relaxed, alone or with others, and just going with the mood of the place or the people around them. 

Using a computer system with natural language and having those words interpreted and acted upon by genAI isn’t “vibing.” It’s just using a new user interface. 

From the 1946 launch of ENIAC to the 1976 release of the Apple I by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs to the 1991 debut of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee, the user-interface trend has always been clear: Increased compute power and more sophisticated software has been applied to the task of making interaction between person and machine easier for the person. From the setting of switches to punch cards to command lines to graphical interfaces, we’ve always made computers work harder to make interfacing easier for users. 

We’re embarking on a breathtaking leap in that 80-year trajectory, where the user barely has to work and the computer processes a billion billion calculations per second in massive data centers. 

Natural language is the interface of the future because it’s the most natural way for people to communicate. Our machines are finally powerful enough to meet us in the human world of conversation. Voice interaction with powerful computing systems is revolutionizing usability, transforming who can use advanced computers (almost everybody) and where (almost everywhere). 

It’s not about “vibing.” It’s about talking. The voice interface from popular culture and sci-fi — 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek, Blade Runner, and The Jetsons — is here. And it’s spreading to all our applications, thanks to AI. 

Sorry to bring bad vibes to the whole “vibe coding” thing. But voice interaction is about usability, not “vibing.” When everything is vibing – ComputerworldRead More