That's a good point. Myself is the easiest person to fool.
I knocked together a quick analysis of my commit graphs going back several years, if you're interested: https://mccormick.cx/gh/
My average leading up to 2023 was around 2k commits per year. 2023 I started using ChatGPT and I hit my highest commits so far that year at 2,600. 2024 I moved to a different country, which broke my productivity. I started using aider at the end of 2024 and in 2025 I again hit my highest commits ever at 2,900. This year is looking pretty solid.
From this it looks to me like I'm at least 1.4x more productive than before.
As a freelancer I have to track issues closed and hours pretty closely so I can give estimates and updates to clients. My baseline was always "two issues closed per working day". These are issues I create myself (full stack, self-managed freelancer) so the average granularity has stayed roughly constant.
This morning I closed 8 issues on a client project. I estimate I am averaging around 4 issues per working day these days. I know this because I have to actually close the issues each day. So on that metric my productivity has roughly doubled.
I believe those studies for sure. I think there is nuance to using these tools well, and I think a lot of people are going backwards and introducing more bugs than progress through vibe coding. I do not think I have gone backwards, and the metrics I have available seem to agree with that assessment.
Love your approach and that you actually have "before vs. after" numbers to back it up!
I personally also use AI in a similar way, strongly guiding it instead of vibe-coding. It reduces frustration because it surely "types" faster and better than me, including figuring out some syntax nuances.
But often I jump in and do some parts by myself. Either "starting" something (creating a directory, file, method etc.) to let the LLM fill in the "boring" parts, or "finishing" something by me filling in the "important" parts (like business logic etc.).
I think it's way easier to retain authorship and codebase understanding this way, and it's more fun as well (for me).
But in the industry right now there is a heavy push for "vibe coding".
I knocked together a quick analysis of my commit graphs going back several years, if you're interested: https://mccormick.cx/gh/
My average leading up to 2023 was around 2k commits per year. 2023 I started using ChatGPT and I hit my highest commits so far that year at 2,600. 2024 I moved to a different country, which broke my productivity. I started using aider at the end of 2024 and in 2025 I again hit my highest commits ever at 2,900. This year is looking pretty solid.
From this it looks to me like I'm at least 1.4x more productive than before.
As a freelancer I have to track issues closed and hours pretty closely so I can give estimates and updates to clients. My baseline was always "two issues closed per working day". These are issues I create myself (full stack, self-managed freelancer) so the average granularity has stayed roughly constant.
This morning I closed 8 issues on a client project. I estimate I am averaging around 4 issues per working day these days. I know this because I have to actually close the issues each day. So on that metric my productivity has roughly doubled.
I believe those studies for sure. I think there is nuance to using these tools well, and I think a lot of people are going backwards and introducing more bugs than progress through vibe coding. I do not think I have gone backwards, and the metrics I have available seem to agree with that assessment.