What is vibe coding? The AI term named Collins word of the year

So, what exactly is vibe coding?

Every year, the Collins Dictionary selects a word that captures the cultural and technological shifts shaping our world. For 2025, that word is “vibe coding.”

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So, what exactly is vibe coding? In simple terms, it’s the process of using artificial intelligence to turn natural language into computer code. Instead of memorising syntax or debugging for hours, developers, and even non-developers can now describe what they want in plain English, and AI does the heavy lifting.

This concept was first introduced by Andrej Karpathy, a leading voice in AI and former Tesla AI director. His vision was a future where anyone can build software without needing to “think in code.”