Vibe coding is now hitting the 3D print world.
If you haven’t heard, Vibe Coding is a new AI-based approach to developing apps, web pages, and services. You’ve heard of “text to image” where a prompt is turned into an image, and similar methods. In the past six months, a new pattern has emerged, which is basically “text to code”. But it’s not called that; it’s called “Vibe Coding”.
Vibe Coding allows almost anyone to very, very quickly generate apps on their own. With today’s very powerful AI models — some of which have been optimized for generating code — rather large projects can be planned, built, tested, and even deployed automatically.
There are some questions about the quality of these generated apps, particularly in the security area, but regardless, the apps are being built by many people, everywhere. As the AI models continue to increase in capability, the quality issues will fade away.
There are important implications that emerge from this capability, the most important being that almost anyone can, in a very short time, build their own apps — and not require commercial or proprietary versions that currently exist. In other words, if you don’t like some software you’re using, just make your own.
In the past, that would have been a ridiculous statement, because it would require teams of programmers and designers to build an app. But now, all you need is a subscription to a suitable AI tool, and you can do it yourself, even if you have no coding experience at all.
What will this mean for 3D printing?
I believe we are about to see an avalanche of small utility tools to fill gaps in current software tools.
Here’s an example: Reddit contributor u/FlatCarrot3943 just published an open-source 3D modeling tool, SketchForge, on GitHub. This tool mimics the functions of Tinkercad, with some additions desired by FlatCarrot3943.
If you don’t like the software, make your own. FlatCarrot3943 did exactly that.
According to FlatCarrot3943, the app was “mostly built” using OpenAI’s Codex tool in about a month.
I’ve also heard of several other tools that have recently appeared in the same pattern. These will surely not be the last of these “sudden apps”; they are only the beginning.
Like AI or not, it now will take only one person, an idea, a week or so, and a subscription to create a new 3D print-related application.
Expect to see many such apps in the near future.
What functions will they provide? I can imagine apps that provide “a little extra” over an existing app; I can see a replacement app for an expensive subscription-based commercial app; or something entirely new that no one thought of before.
What app will you be making?
Via Reddit, GitHub, and SketchForge
