Collins Dictionary has crowned “vibe coding” its 2025 Word of the Year, a choice that champions the creative and collaborative potential of artificial intelligence. The term, which surged in use this year, was chosen over the popular anti-AI slang “clanker,” signaling a cultural lean towards AI as a tool for empowerment.
“Vibe coding” refers to a revolutionary shift in software development where AI interprets natural language and intent—the “vibe”—to generate code. This process, first described by OpenAI’s Andrej Karpathy, lowers the barrier to entry, allowing individuals to create apps and software without deep technical knowledge, essentially “forgetting the code exists.”
The selection of this term highlights a move away from viewing AI as just a cold, logical machine. Instead, it’s being framed as a partner in human creativity. Collins’ managing director, Alex Beecroft, called it a “seamless integration of human creativity and machine intelligence,” fundamentally changing how we interact with computers.
Its main rival, “clanker,” represents the opposite sentiment. Popularized by Star Wars, the derogatory term for robots and AI captures the public’s frustration and distrust of chatbots and automation. Its strong showing demonstrates the cultural anxiety AI is causing.
By choosing “vibe coding” over “clanker,” Collins is highlighting the optimism in the AI debate. The dictionary’s choice suggests that, for 2025, the dominant linguistic trend is not our fear of AI, but our excitement about its potential to translate our “vibes” into tangible creations.