Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, has expressed mixed views on vibe coding, the AI-assisted software development trend. At a recent open source convention in South Korea, he acknowledged its potential for newcomers while warning against its use in professional products. Torvalds sees AI as a helpful tool but not a replacement for programmers.
Vibe coding, an AI-assisted approach to software development, has gained significant attention recently. Companies are offering vibe coding services, Google has launched a related agent, and it was named Collins Dictionary's Word of the Year. However, critics highlight its risks, including errors that require human intervention to fix.
During an open source software convention in South Korea, Linus Torvalds, the founder of Linux, shared his perspective on this trend. He described vibe coding as potentially problematic for maintenance in product development. "Vibe coding may be a horrible, horrible idea from a maintenance standpoint, if you actually tried to make a product," Torvalds said.
Despite these concerns, Torvalds views it positively for beginners. "But I think it’s a great way…for new people to get involved and get excited about computers and get computers to do something that maybe they couldn’t do it, otherwise. So I’m actually fairly positive about this all," he added. He dismissed ambitions to build billion-dollar companies solely on vibe coding.
Torvalds expressed optimism about AI's role in the industry, tempered by realism about hype. "I see it as something exciting and something new and something good," he said, noting that expectations might not align with reality. He mentioned ongoing experimental work, such as using AI to manage patch flows and backporting in Linux maintenance.
Ultimately, Torvalds likened AI to past innovations like compilers. "AI is just another tool," he stated. "The same way compilers free people from writing assembly code by hand, and increase productivity enormously, but didn’t make programmers go away." He anticipates AI becoming a normalized, less hyped part of daily work in the coming years.