Vibe coding, as AI programming has come to be known, has the highest impact when used by more senior developers, allowing them to prototype and test ideas rapidly. But there are risks to this so-called "vibe coding" that development teams must be aware of, especially when code moves from experimentation and testing into production.
"AI-generated code is functional, but it often lacks optimisation, readability and long-term maintainability," said Callan Abrahams, executive head of artificial intelligence at JSE-listed IT services group iOCO .
"It may solve an isolated issue but create hidden conflicts across system architectures, business logic or long-term strategy. Insecure patterns, flawed libraries and unvetted dependencies can easily slip into production. In other words, AI-generated code can solve one issue but introduce hidden conflicts elsewhere, because it can't see the bigger picture and generated code may misalign with strict corporate architecture."