The hidden risks of Vibe coding/AI-assisted coding no one talks about

AI-assisted coding or “Vibe Coding” has been trending, just prompt the AI, and it writes your code. If a bug appears, tell AI to fix it. It’s great for non-technical founders, indie devs, and small teams to build quick MVPs and simple apps as it allows them to test their ideas with minimal development effort. 

In tech and startup community circles like HN, Product Hunt etc., there’s often a sample bias, where everyone is in the startup space, using AI tools or building AI agents. However, in critical sectors like banking, healthcare, and government, enterprises can't risk third-party AI access to their code due to security, compliance, and maintainability concerns.

• First, AI-assisted coding raises serious intellectual property concerns. Enterprise companies are highly protective of their proprietary codebases, and sharing any part of it with an external AI service is simply not an option.
  

• Second, AI frequently produces bug-ridden code that requires constant oversight from experienced developers. Subtle logic bugs, poor optimization, and architectural inconsistencies can compound issues over time.
  

• Third, AI can introduce significant security risks by inheriting poor security practices from public codebases. While this might be fine for weekend projects, in enterprise settings, it can lead to unacceptable vulnerabilities and risks.
  

• Fourth, unchecked AI use in coding leads to major technical debt. Relying on AI-generated code without fully understanding it makes debugging harder. Over time, this creates a messy, unmanageable codebase that struggles to scale and perform well.

AI will not replace strong engineering fundamentals, but it will make good engineers more productive while amplifying the mistakes of bad ones. If you’re a software engineer, your ability to debug, refactor, and design scalable systems will always matter more than playing with AI tools.

AI-assisted coding is here to stay. Startups and founders can benefit greatly but they should will remain cautious, particularly around security and long-term maintainability.

Feel free to share your thoughts!