citizen science – open data – Python
Can I Still Code?
Is vibe coding quietly eroding our Python skills?
A longitudinal project tracking real developers over time.
The Mission
As AI assistants like Cursor, Claude and GitHub Copilot become ubiquitous, we're entering the era of vibe coding – where the AI generates the logic while we guide the "vibe".
But what happens to our internal skills over time? Does this convenience lead to cognitive atrophy, or does it free us to solve higher-level problems?
Can I Still Code is a longitudinal, citizen-science research project designed to measure exactly that.
Discovering what protects your skills
Beyond measuring decline, this project also explores what protects your skills – despite heavy AI use. By identifying what those developers have in common, we can surface concrete, evidence-backed habits and share them with the whole community.
How It Works
1. Register
Create a profile and provide your baseline demographics and coding habits.
2. Assessment
Complete short Python challenges periodically (no AI, no Googling!). How does this work?
3. Insights
Explore your personal performance trends and see how you compare.
4. Longitudinal
Return every 28 days (but just 2 sessions a year apart is useful!) to build a robust dataset of your skills over time.
Your insights panel
Example trends from a single participant.
Accuracy (demo)
Time Taken (demo)
Submissions Per Challenge (demo)
Help us answer the big question
We are looking for participants, researchers, and collaborators.
Support This Research
Please help cover the costs of this app, including servers, storage, and ongoing development. With your support, I'd be able to bring in researchers and developers to add new features and further advance the science.
Get in touch