I realized how powerful AI really is over the past couple of weeks.
I started dabbling with ChatGPT about two and a half years ago. I’ve used it for a lot of interesting things — from making up superhero-themed cocktails based on whatever ingredients I had on hand, to building custom GPTs loaded with resources to handle specific tasks like developing marketing plans or summarizing content in a way that matches how I think. But then I learned about vibe coding, and things got interesting.
Vibe coding is using tools like ChatGPT and Claude to write code that creates web pages and app-like interfaces — just by describing what you want. The term has been around for less than a year as of this writing, and I’m not sure whether it’s meant to be benign or a little bit of a dig, but either way: it’s kind of blowing my mind.
I’d played around with it a little before — quick websites, simple one-page tools with no memory. But last week I learned about Google Apps Script, and it changed everything.
Apps Script is a tool that lets you connect published HTML files to Google tools like Sheets and Docs, as well as other applications. I know that sounds about as exciting as dust accumulating behind a filing cabinet. But here’s what it actually means: you can create your own custom interfaces for data you already have, and you can build apps that do the work you’re currently paying monthly subscriptions to do. All by describing what you want. It’s basically a Green Lantern ring — the only limit is your imagination and your ability to describe it (and less intergalactic responsibilities).
I’ve worked with a number of LMSs, CMSs, CRMs, and other business tools — platforms designed to make life easier. And they kind of do. But they usually come loaded with features I don’t need, missing a few things I’d actually want, and they require me to re-enter all my data from scratch. Over time they get buggy. They add features nobody asked for and drop the ones that actually worked. You want to switch, but the devil you know… and all that. Not to mention the time and energy a platform migration actually takes.
Before vibe coding, your options were pretty much:
- Keep plugging away with what you have
- Find something new and migrate everything over
- Pay a lot of money for custom software built around your existing data
Vibe coding gives you a fourth option: build your own personalized, custom software based on the data you already have — and update it whenever you want, just by describing the change.
Here’s a real example. I had AI help me build a mobile-first digital menu for restaurants, food trucks, caterers — anyone who needs one. It’s intuitive, functional, and looks good. It’s fully customizable and controlled by a Google Spreadsheet. No bloated software. No subscriptions. No expensive custom development. Just describe what you want.
There’s a little more to it than that — but not much. I’ll get into the details another time.
The first version of the menu took a few hours across several rounds of iteration. Then I had AI help me design a way to share it so other people could make their own version quickly and easily. That took a couple more hours.
Using the system I built in under five hours, I made a complete menu* from scratch in about 30 minutes — including time to have AI generate the copy and images, and my time cropping those images in Canva.
In less than half a workday, I used AI to build a web app that lets small business owners — food trucks, ice cream stands, coffee bars, and more — create simple, functional menus they own, control, and update with a spreadsheet.
