[Reporter’s Notebook] Preventing the Collapse of the Tower of Babel in Coding

The reporter attempted to study coding five years ago. With the coding craze in full swing, it seemed like learning it well would make it easier to process data necessary for news articles. However, just 30 minutes after starting, the reporter closed the book. Computer languages such as Python were simply incomprehensible. The sheer amount of code required to create even a single website or application also felt overwhelming.

Despite having no prior experience with coding, the reporter recently created a website that analyzes investment tendencies by combining information from Saju (Korean fortune-telling) and the MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) personality test. It took only two hours to build. Even without any knowledge of code, simply describing what the reporter wanted in words was enough for a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model to write the code. The AI even recognized and corrected shortcomings on its own. Although the reporter once felt defeated before the towering wall of computer languages, five years later, there was a sense of achievement. Describing an idea in plain language and having AI write the code—a process known as “vibe coding”—is essentially a democratization of coding.

The way vibe coding breaks down communication barriers is noteworthy. It is as if the “Tower of Babel” of computer languages has been erected. Observing a startup, even people without any knowledge of computer languages participated in the programming process and offered practical suggestions. During meetings, instead of discussing vague plans, they brought tangible results produced through vibe coding and then went through the process of making revisions. As a result, it was less burdensome to modify results or assign additional work. This is possible because vibe coding has dramatically increased work efficiency and speed.

However, vibe coding does have its downsides. While “citizen developers” have sprung up everywhere, the sites or apps they create are not comparable to those built by professionals. The current level of vibe coding is far from perfect, making it easy for security vulnerabilities to arise. These vulnerabilities must be fixed, but non-experts often have no way of knowing about them.

In the first quarter of this year, 235,800 new apps were registered on app stores worldwide—an 84% increase compared to the same period last year. In a way, this could mean that just as many security holes have appeared. The ease with which crimes can be committed through vibe coding is also a cause for concern. As AI advances rapidly, it is now possible to create hacking tools using just a sentence or two. Governments around the world are already on alert for hacking crimes involving AI and are devising countermeasures.

Vibe coding has certainly lowered the barrier posed by computer languages, encouraging many more people to try their hand at coding. In response, AI companies are focused on advancing generative AI models or AI assistants (agents). However, it is now time to consider “control.” Systems must be established to prevent vibe coding from being used for criminal activities. Additionally, even if it requires more time and financial resources, it is essential to focus AI development capabilities on ensuring that vibe coding results are free of security vulnerabilities. The Tower of Babel collapsed because it could not control human desire.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.