Meta will begin allowing candidates to use artificial intelligence during coding tests. The company has also asked existing employees to volunteer for a “mock AI-enabled interview,” as first reported by 404 Media and later confirmed by Meta.
The Silicon Valley heavyweight is among a handful of tech companies that have given the green light to candidates to use AI when applying for jobs. This makes LLM-based cheating less effective, and with that, Meta is signaling support for “vibe coding,” which could become part of the company’s engineering workflow going forward.
What is vibe-coding?
“Vibe coding,” as the name suggests, involves using fast-evolving AI chatbots and other artificial intelligence tools to write software programs. Traditionally, learning to code has been a prerequisite for landing a job at a tech company. However, since the concept of vibe coding was introduced, it has enabled anyone to prototype a product, write code, and bring that product to market at lightning speed. This shift could change the software engineering field and open the door for individuals who never learned to code or attended engineering school but have new product ideas.
AI-powered coding tools have surged in popularity in recent months. Startups like Lovable and Cursor have suddenly gained attention, with investors pouring millions into these companies. These tools lower the entry barrier to software development, and tech companies are taking notice.
Consider designers: instead of relying on software engineers, they can now experiment and bring ideas to life on their own using AI coding tools. While some question whether AI tools might make engineers redundant, others argue that automation will instead help developers by reducing their workload.
Meta’s decision to allow some candidates to use AI during coding interviews is a refreshing shift. Its peers, however, have not been as open to the idea. Amazon, for instance, recently instructed internal recruiters to disqualify candidates found using AI tools during interviews. Meanwhile, OpenAI rival Anthropic initially opposed the use of AI in job applications but later reversed its stance. No wonder all the leading tech companies have either launched AI chatbots or are working on them.
Google enters the vide-coding fray
Google, the company behind the Gemini AI chatbot and various other AI tools, is testing a vibe-coding tool called Opal. It’s currently available in the US through Google Labs, the company’s platform for testing experimental features. Opal allows users to build, edit, and share mini-apps using natural language. All you have to do is enter a description of the app you want to create, and the tool will use different Google models to generate it. Once the app is ready, you can navigate to an editor panel to view the visual workflow of inputs, outputs, and generation steps. You can click on each step to see the prompt that drives the process and edit it if needed.
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