Vibe Coding & Replication Costs

Replication costs are analogous to barriers to entry and Warren Buffett’s competitive “moat.” Increasing replication costs is of paramount importance in a world where AI can generate code in seconds.

There are two kinds of replication costs:

• Professional replication cost — the difficulty of replacing you
• Software replication cost — the difficulty of copying or re-implementing your software

Vibe coders sacrifice both forms of replication cost.

Professional Replication: Vibe Coding Rots the Brain

The brain is a muscle that strengthens with use and atrophies with disuse. Vibe coding — where you “don’t look at the code” — robs you of the elemental thinking skills that matter most and weakens the mind.

Practitioners become dependent on AI for even trivial adjustments.

In 2032, human talent will not be distinguished by the ability to send prompts, but by the ability to receive, interpret, and act on responses systematically with quality assurance built in.

If you can create an application with prompts alone, someone else can too.

Software Replication: Vibe Coding Produces Generic Software

Vibe coding platforms like Replit invariably generate software using generic JavaScript frameworks (often React). This makes the resulting software a sitting duck to replicate.

A copycat does not even need your source code. There is no defensive moat.

By contrast, software built with the Add-in is more like a defensible castle. Its architectural shape does not align with JavaScript frameworks or anything commonly in existence today.

Replicating such software requires the Add-in itself — which puts the replicator on your radar.