What Next: TBD | Tech, power, and the future - TBD Tries... Vibe Coding

In this episode of What Next TBD, hosts Lizzie O'Leary and Evan Campbell take on the challenge of 'vibe coding'—using agentic AI like Claude Code to build a web game with no prior coding experience. Guided by Slate’s Chief Technology Officer, Greg LaValle, they navigate the steep learning curve of terminal commands, AI setup, and prompt engineering. Their goal: create a simulation game about being a podcast producer for Slate’s What Next TBD, complete with narrative tension, sponsor interference, and character stats. After a chaotic setup and multiple failed attempts, they produce a playable prototype in under an hour. While the final game is functionally intact but visually and mechanically flawed, the real value lies in the process: demonstrating how AI is democratizing prototyping, accelerating development, and reshaping the role of software engineers. Guest Clive Thompson unpacks the broader implications—how AI is automating routine coding tasks, threatening junior developer roles, and potentially enabling small businesses to access custom software. Yet, the episode also raises urgent questions about job displacement, code readability, and the future of professional identity in a world where anyone can 'code' with a prompt. Despite the game’s shortcomings, the team concludes that human creativity, storytelling, and editorial judgment remain irreplaceable—especially in journalism. The episode captures a pivotal moment in tech history: the shift from coding as a specialized skill to a tool accessible to non-experts. While AI lowers the barrier to entry for building digital products, it also deepens the divide between those who can conceptualize and those who can manage the systems. The hosts reflect on the irony of their own 'dumb' game being made possible by AI, while real-world developers face existential uncertainty. Ultimately, the takeaway is not that AI will replace humans, but that it will redefine what humans do—shifting focus from execution to vision, ethics, and meaning. The game, though silly, becomes a metaphor: the future isn’t about who can code, but who can ask the right questions.