Vibe Coding Entanglements - Repositioning Boundaries of Intention, Authorship, and Responsibility in Programming with Generative AI

Vibe Coding is conceptualised as a co-constituted form of programming through which humans and AI tools engage in the mutual shaping of a piece of code. Using design provocations in the form of three different programming assistants, we examine how intentions, control, and outcomes emerge through mutual shaping between programmers, AI-tools, code, and visual sketches. The analysis reveals a set of interrelated themes that foreground the tensions that emerge in participants’ interactions with the programming assistants. A set of design configurations is identified in relation to how these programming processes unfold. We use this to outline how vibe coding can be understood as a decentered form of programming that emphasises the mutual co-constitution and shifting boundaries among humans and AI. We argue that this suggests a reconfiguration of how AI-based programming is understood - emphasising the evolving, co-creative interactions in which intention and control are mutually shaped.