Forget The Vibe-Coders, We Need To Support Responsible AI-Assisted Development
DevOps.com, Monday, February 16th, 2026
In 2009, Microsoft's launch of Songsmith did not meet expectations. Designed as a tool for anyone to make music, all you had to do was sing a few lines, and the software would provide a beat and melody to go with it.
The New York Times was one of many to point out its faults, quoting Susan Sontag from Notes on Camp: 'Bad to the point of being laughable, but not bad to the point of being enjoyable.'
It turns out the available inputs (Happy, Jazzy) weren't enough to create good music. Some understanding of music theory, even learned informally, was necessary to create something worthwhile. If released today, Songsmith would likely fall into the 'vibe-composing' category alongside tools such as Strudel.