"Vibe coding" is not a metric

Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 outperforms all other publicly available technologies on "vibe coding," a term describing AI software creation from conversational English prompts. The New York Times used the phrase as a metric in a recent Business section article, but "vibe coding" is not measurable and code quality is subjective, making the claim lazy reporting. Journalists should not hand AI companies freebie metrics that sound impressive but mean nothing, especially as these firms consume significant finite resources.

May. 29, 2026 Dear NYTimes: Vibe coding is not a metric Web Development Technology Anthropic's new Claude Opus 4.8 outperforms all other publicly available technologies on vibe coding, which is when A.I. technologies create software in response to prompts written in conversational English. - Anthropic Tops OpenAI to Become the World’s Most Valuable A.I. Start-Up. The New York Times 1 I facepalmed after reading that sentence in a recent article from the Business section of the New York Times. "Vibe coding" is not a metric, as in you cannot measure it. AI models can generate computer code, and code quality is subjective. More isn't necessarily better. Less isn't necessarily better. A quick example comes to mind: a programmer might intentionally choose to make a section of code "less efficient" in order to make it easier to read. Is this better or worse? Saying that Opus 4.8 outperforms other models at vibe coding is lazy reporting. It'd be like saying that Argentina is better at "sporting" than France . 2 f2 Which sport? At what age range? During what years? AI companies are currently raising more money than God. A real metric. They are also consuming significant finite resources in the form of energy and water. As investors and the public weigh these costs, journalists should not be handing these companies freebie metrics that sound impressive but mean nothing. If a product is better, or indeed good at all, they should have to prove it. References: - 1 NYTimes story: M. Isaac and C. Metz 2026, May 28 . Anthropic Tops OpenAI to Become the World’s Most Valuable A.I. Start-Up https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/technology/anthropic-tops-openai-valuation.html - 2 Argentina has won 3 FIFA World Cups: in 1978, 1986 and 2022. France has won 2 FIFA World Cups: in 1998 and 2018.