The Dangers Of Vibe Coding & AI-Built Websites

The recent trend of vibe coding has led many organisations to believe that AI-built websites are a cheap and easy alternative to professional platforms. However, the risks of AI coding are severe. Tools like the Manus AI website builder often create what developers call the black box problem AI—a system that functions on the surface but is impossible for a human to update or secure. For volunteer-run organisations, relying on an AI ghost developer leads to inevitable software tech rot and massive club website security vulnerabilities, such as exposed API keys. Instead of gambling on a system that will break within a year, clubs and associations should rely on supported, custom membership software built and maintained by real human developers.

If you’re anything like me, the phrase vibe coding seems like indecipherable nonsense. Honestly, when I hear it, I picture someone typing away furiously while at a warehouse rave. 

Here is an AI depiction of what I am picturing. 

It, however, is not at all like that. Real vibe coding is much less exciting and has a much lower risk of second-hand smoke inhalation, getting a contact high or contracting tetanus. 

So, today, let’s look at what vibe-coding is, the risks associated with it, and why it is probably best avoided for the average person. 

Quick Answer: What Are The Risks Of Vibe Coding A Club Website?

If you are looking for the short version, using AI to "vibe code" a custom website for your club might seem like a cheap shortcut, but it introduces massive security and operational risks. Here is why you should avoid it:

• The Black Box Problem: AI generates complex code that no human on your committee actually understands, making it virtually impossible to fix when it eventually breaks.

• Severe Security Flaws: Vibe-coded sites often accidentally expose sensitive API keys and lack the continuous security patches needed to protect private member data.

• The "One Person" Trap: Your entire club's digital presence relies on the single volunteer who knows how to prompt the AI, leaving you completely stranded if they leave.

• Inevitable Tech Rot: Without a dedicated development team to maintain and update the software, AI-built platforms degrade and become obsolete almost immediately.

What Is Vibe Coding? 

Before we define vibe coding, let's quickly go over some important definitions. 

Regular coding involves a person using programming languages such as Python or JavaScript to build a piece of software. They use those languages to instruct systems on exactly how to behave; your email system only knows to open a blank email when you click the new email button because someone specifically told it to do so. Pretty much every system you use was built this way. 

Website builders like Member Jungle, Wix, and WordPress use standard coding behind the scenes. The developers have already done the heavy lifting, so you can just drag and drop fully functional elements into place to get a customised site without needing to know what this means. 

Honestly, I’d have better luck reading Latin than whatever that is. 

Vibe coding is where, instead of a person writing the code or using a pre-built system, you ask an AI to write the code based on the "vibes" and features you want. You describe the site's feel to the AI, and it attempts to build it from scratch.

With the rise of powerful AI and tools like Lovable, Replit, Claude Code and Manus.im, we are seeing more and more people turn to vibe coding to build things, and that should be a concern. 

The Problem With Vibe Coding

There are several issues with vibe coding, so let’s get stuck into them. 

Vibe Coding - The Black Box Problem

One major issue with building a system via vibe coding is that it is essentially a black box. In computing, a black box is a fundamentally unobservable system; you can see what goes in and what comes out, but the internal working remains a mystery. The result is that only the AI that generated the code actually knows how it works. Since the people managing the site don't understand the underlying architecture, they are effectively locked out of their own product.

Take a system like Member Jungle, for example. You and I might not know exactly how it functions under the hood, but the Member Jungle development team certainly do; they built the entire platform, including the mobile app, from the ground up. If a bug appears, a new security risk is identified, or the system just needs an update, there is a human team that knows exactly which lines of code need to be tweaked.

This isn’t the case with vibe-coded or AI-built websites. Because no human being actually wrote the code, no human being understands the logic behind it. This means that updating the site, patching security holes, or adding new features lands somewhere on the scale between mind-bogglingly difficult and utterly impossible. 

Vibe Coding - Security Risks

As you can imagine, having an AI build your system opens you up to all sorts of security risks. One major vulnerability stems from what we just discussed; it is remarkably difficult to update a system built by AI. You could go out today and create a website with AI that feels perfectly safe, but give it a year, and the landscape will change.

Because the black box system can’t be easily updated or improved to adapt to new exploits and malware, your security eventually becomes as effective as Chris Hemsworth taking cover from a helicopter gunship behind a ladder in Extraction 2. 

There are also financial risks that come along with vibe coding. Because AI focuses on vibes and basic functionality, it can take security shortcuts that a human developer never would. We are seeing a big increase in people accidentally leaving their Google API keys visible in their public code. These keys are essentially digital credit cards for your organisation’s tech services. Within seconds of publishing your code, automated bots can scrape those keys and use your account to run their own massive operations. The vibe coder is then left with a bill for tens of thousands of dollars for services they didn't even know they were using. 

At Member Jungle, we take a slightly more robust security approach than hiding behind a ladder. Data security is part of our DNA; we use industry-standard encryption, multiple firewalls, and two-factor authentication to safeguard your members' data. We also proactively monitor for malicious activity and roll out regular security patches, ensuring your system stays secure. 

We are certainly not alone in our concerns over vibe coding, the United Kingdom's National Cyber Security Centre recently released this article about the dangers of vibe coding: Vibe check: AI may replace SaaS (but not for a while).

Vibe Coding - Liability Issues

There is also the awkward question of legal liability. If you use a tool like Manus to vibe code a member database, you are effectively handing over your members' private data to a literal ghost in the machine. The corporate structures behind these AI tools are often a labyrinth of offshore entities across various countries and legal jurisdictions. Some of the parent companies involved are already being delisted or indicated as no longer in official registries. This all means that if there is a data breach, you have absolutely no idea who is actually behind the platform or how to hold them accountable. 

Member Jungle, by contrast, is at 87 Elder street Lambton. We’re between the pub and the doctor's office. If you see the pharmacy, you’ve gone too far. We are a transparent, Australian-owned company, with a long history of being secure and keeping members’ data safe. You shouldn't have to entrust your members' data to a mysterious entity that might vanish tomorrow.

Vibe Coding - One Person Having The Keys To The Kingdom 

Back in the early days of Member Jungle, we frequently saw clubs whose websites had been built by a single staff member using basic code. These sites were usually a bit janky, but they served a purpose; the real issue arose when that one person decided to quit, got sick, or simply went on holiday. The rest of the committee was left with a complicated system they didn't know how to use, update, or even log into.

The rise of vibe-coded websites is inevitably going to lead to this happening all over again. You'll have one person who kind of knows how the system works and the entire organisation’s digital presence will hinge on them sticking around. When they eventually move on to something else, your club is going to be left holding the bag.

Member Jungle solves this by providing a system that isn't dependent on one person’s memory. We offer logins to multiple administrators so you can share the workload across your committee, and because the platform is intuitive and fully supported by our team, anyone can jump in and keep things running smoothly. We provide free ongoing training, whole committee training and a comprehensive support portal, ensuring that the keys to your digital kingdom are always in safe, multiple hands.

Vibe Coding - The Slow Rot

All the issues with vibe coding eventually lead to the same destination, the slow, inevitable rot of the system. Professional platforms like Member Jungle, MailChimp, and Bond Software employ full-time development teams for a reason; maintaining, updating, and securing a digital system is quite literally a full-time job.

If your club or association doesn’t have the time, budget, or manpower to act as its own dev team, using a vibe-coded website is just asking for trouble. Without a human team to constantly patch holes and improve functionality, that AI-generated system will break down sooner or later.

Software isn't a set-and-forget product; it’s more like a garden that needs constant weeding. At Member Jungle, we release monthly product updates to ensure your system never falls behind. While a vibe-coded site starts decaying the second it's published, we focus on continuous product development, adding new features and beefing up security so your system is better three years from now than it is today.

Vibe Coding & AI-Powered Websites: The Verdict

The long and the short of it is this; yes, you could go out today and use a tool like Manus to build a system that looks and acts a lot like Member Jungle for half the price. But that system will immediately start to rot. It will develop security holes that neither you nor the AI will know how to patch, and when something eventually goes wrong, or your data is leaked, trying to hold a de-listed offshore entity liable will be virtually impossible.

At the end of the day, it is your choice whether to gamble on a vibe-coded website or not. However, even accounting for our own bias, the message from the Member Jungle Development and Security teams is clear: it is an inescapably poor choice.

Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with a direct quote from our Head of Development.

“Where most people go wrong is assuming AI can do things they can't. AI is at its best when it’s used to improve a process you already understand; it should help you do what you already do, just faster. When people vibe-code applications while their entire experience of ‘software’ is using Microsoft Excel 2007, that is where the breakdown happens. You simply cannot fix something if you don’t know it’s broken in the first place.”

What Is The Best Alternative To Vibe Coding For Clubs?

To protect your members' data and ensure your system actually works long-term, clubs should avoid AI-vibe coding and instead use a dedicated, professionally supported membership management platform. Look for a system that:

• Is built, maintained, and continuously updated by real human developers.

• Offers bank-level data security, encryption, and proactive monitoring.

• Provides multiple admin logins and free training so your whole committee can easily use it.

• Is backed by a transparent, locally-owned company rather than a faceless AI tool.

Keep Your Data Secure & Your Website Fresh 

So, that’s a look at what vibe coding is and why, unless you are a professional-level software developer, it’s probably a bad idea. 

If you want to know more about what we at Member Jungle do to keep your system secure and up to date, check out the articles below. 

• How Does Member Jungle Protect Your Data?
• Choose a Membership System That Won't Become Obsolete