When I originally saw this report on another source, the key standout for me was how many people were beaten by the AI, and the fact the winner was 5% ahead, which really is a small margin. It was being touted as “Yay we beat the AI!” without acknowledging that there were a lot of people that lost to it.

Steamworks

Thanks, it’s interesting to read your thoughts on this.

If you were a Jr entering the job market now, and have management encouraging vibe coding because they want quick results, how would you go about getting the experience and building the right skillset?

why would I hire someone at all?

AI doesn’t get everything right, and you need someone capable of validating that and pivoting it in the right direction. But also AI cannot currently do everything, so you need someone to fill those areas. Where I work there is a push to engage with AI more, probably to train it.

So why would I hire you over anyone else?

This is like any other job really, people aren’t hired based purely on their skillset, but other factors too such as their capability to learn, their personality, will they mesh well with the existing team, have they got drive to make things better, do they have soft skills to position themselves to become better, is the person adaptable - are they able to use new technology to their advantage or are they stubborn and stuck in their old ways?

I want to be in a position to know and understand all the fundamentals, but is the bar for what is considered fundamental shifting? Once upon a time those who were writing low level code would have said what they do are the fundamentals, but as time went on we got new levels of coding and so knowing how to write low level code is no longer a required skill.

Apologies if I’ve misunderstood what you’re trying to say. But thanks for responding, these kinds of discussions are helpful.

I’ve been a Jr coming up to two years. When working on tasks I have a rough idea of what I want to achieve and some steps on the way there, but don’t know how to actually implement it. I’ve found using copilot useful to fill in some of the gaps and give me ideas and direction.

I’m concerned that there are skills I am missing out on developing, but at the same time if AI is being pushed so heavily is it not something I should lean into to be better equipped in working with it?

In the worst case scenario where you ask it a coding problem for which there is no solution—it’s just not possible to do what you’re asking—it may nevertheless engage you indefinitely until you eventually realize it’s running you around in circles.

Exactly this, and it’s frustrating as a Jr dev to be fed this bs when you’re learning. I’ve had multiple scenarios where it blatantly told me wrong things. Like using string interpolation in a terraform file to try and set a dynamic source - what it was giving me looked totally viable. It wasn’t until I dug around some more that I found out that terraform init can’t use variables in the source field.

On the positive side it helps give me some direction when I don’t know where to start. I use it with a highly pessimistic and cautious approach. I understand that today is the worst it’s going to be, and that I will be required to use it as a tool in my job going forward, so I’m making an effort to get to grips when working with it.

Don’t associate microwaves with AI… The microwave has very viable uses!

I usually chuck a potato in the microwave for like a few minutes before finishing it off in the air fryer. Get that fluffy inside and crispy outside in less than 30 mins, whereas oven cooking it in foil would take an hour plus. Same results but quicker.

If I’m hyper critical of anything the AI puts out, not accepting it as gospel and turn whatever crap it gives me into a working solution, is that vibe coding as well?

Using uBO, but have noticed a slightly longer delay of a few seconds between hitting play and the video starting, but I can deal with that over being forced to watch 30s of ads.

Ah, I’m a claw. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a fingertipper.

I remember once upon a time holding a friend’s razer mouse and it just felt wrong to me. I later found out about different grip types and that was essential in picking the right mouse.