In an Era Where Anyone Can Build, What Is Different When Counselors Build?

Pre-Recorded Lectures

Period 1 — Presentation: An Era Where Anyone Can Build

Period 2 — Team Discussion: Sharing AI Usage Experiences

Period 3 — Group Presentations + Discussion

Four Stages of AI Utilization

The way we use AI evolves across four stages — from simple conversation to tool usage, automation, and agents. Most people remain at Stage 1, but understanding each stage enables far more strategic use of AI in counseling settings.

Throughout this semester, we will experience all four stages firsthand. Today, we start by assessing which stage you are currently at, and take the first step toward Stage 2.

Period 1 Presentation: Why We Must Build It Ourselves

Over the past two weeks, we confirmed two things. First, the AI agent era has arrived. Second, there is no easy answer to whether counseling is still needed in that era.

Today, we ask a different question. How are you currently using AI?

In 2024, 71% of psychologists in the APA survey said they had “never used AI.” One year later, that number dropped to 44%. A reversal in just one year. 52% were using AI for emails and document creation, 32% for summarizing notes.

What's more interesting is the client side. 48.7% of AI users experiencing mental health difficulties were already using ChatGPT for therapeutic support. Researchers concluded:

“The largest mental health service provider in America may not be a hospital network, an app, or a government program. It may be artificial intelligence.”

— Rousmaniere et al. (2025), Sentio University

Korea's reality is even more dramatic. Mental health service utilization rate: 7.2%. Highest suicide rate in the OECD. Yet mental health spending is only 1.9% of the health budget. As of 2024, 73.6% of citizens experience mental health issues, but only 16% have received professional counseling. Only 11% have tried AI counseling.

This gap is exactly what we'll discuss today. This isn't about “let's use AI counseling.” It's about building it ourselves.

In February 2025, Andrej Karpathy posted a tweet: “I'm calling this vibe coding. A new kind of coding where you surrender to the vibes and forget code even exists.” This tweet reached 4.5 million views and became Collins Dictionary's Word of the Year in November.

An era where people with no coding experience can tell AI what to build and get an apphas arrived. Let's look at real cases.

Sabrine Matos from Brazil is a marketer. Zero coding experience. A woman in her community was murdered by a partner with a violent criminal record. The victim had no way to check that record. Sabrine used AI coding tools to build Plinq, a women's safety app, in 45 days. 10,000 users in 3 months, preventing over 200 dangerous situations.

At Y Combinator — the world's top startup accelerator — 25% of teams in the Winter 2025 batch generated 95%+ of their code with AI. Rokt used Replit to build 135 internal apps in 24 hours.

If a marketer can build a safety app, what can we, as counselors, build?

Of course, there are shadows. An app built through vibe coding leaked 72,000 IDs. Security research found vulnerabilities in all 15 apps built by AI. The founder of AI therapy app Yara voluntarily shut down, saying: “For people with precarious mental health, a chatbot is not a good place.”

“Can build” and “should build” are different questions. Holding this tension, today let's share how we each use AI and discuss what we truly want to build.

In Period 2, we'll build directly with a tool called Replit. Describe what you want, and AI builds the app. In Period 3, we'll present what we built and discuss project directions for this semester.

How are you currently using AI? And what do you truly want to build?

The Birth of Vibe Coding

On February 2, 2025, Tesla AI Director and OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathyposted a short message on X (Twitter).

“I'm calling this 'vibe coding.' A new way of coding where you fully surrender to the vibes, forget that code even exists. It's possible because LLMs have gotten so good. I use SuperWhisper and just speak, barely touching the keyboard.”

— Andrej Karpathy, 2025.02.02

This single tweet named a new era. In November 2025, Collins Dictionary selected “vibe coding” as the Word of the Year. A year later, Karpathy reflected: “It was a tweet I tossed out while in the shower, but it happened to name something many people were feeling at the same time.”

The Vibe Coding Revolution in Numbers

Real Apps Built by Non-Developers

Case 1: Brazil's Women Safety App — Plinq

Sabrine Matos, a Brazilian marketer, had zero coding experience. A woman in her community was murdered by a partner with a history of violence. The victim had no way to check that criminal record.

Sabrine used Lovable to build Plinq in 45 days — a women's safety platform with public criminal record search, risk scores, and emergency panic button features. Within 3 months, it reached over 10,000 users and $456,000 in annual revenue. It prevented over 200 dangerous situations.

Case 2: Acquired for $80M in 6 Months — Base44

Maor Shlomo built Base44, a vibe coding platform, single-handedly. 6 employees, zero outside investment. 10,000 sign-ups in 3 weeks, 250,000 in 6 months. Wix acquired it for $80 million in cash.

Case 3: 135 Internal Apps in 24 Hours — Rokt

Global e-commerce platform Rokt used Replit Agent to build 135 internal business apps in 24 hours. Each team described what they needed, and AI built it.

How Are Counselors Currently Using AI?

In 2024, according to the APA, 71% of psychologists had never used AI. One year later in 2025, that dropped to 44%. In just one year, a majority of psychologists began adopting AI in their work.

There are even more striking statistics. According to Sentio University's 2025 survey, 48.7% of AI users experiencing mental health difficulties were already using LLMs for therapeutic support. 96% of them used ChatGPT. Researchers concluded:

“The largest mental health service provider in America may not be a hospital network, a therapy app, or a government program. It may be artificial intelligence.”

— Rousmaniere et al. (2025), Sentio University

Korea's Reality

Korea's mental health service utilization rate is 7.2% — dramatically low compared to the US (43.1%) and Canada (46.5%). Despite the highest suicide rate in the OECD (25.2-29.1 per 100,000, 2.7x the OECD average), mental health spending is only 1.9% of the health budget (WHO recommends 5%).

The proportion of citizens experiencing mental health issues surged from 63.8% in 2022 to 73.6% in 2024. Yet only 16% have received professional counseling, and only 11% have tried AI counseling. Stigma and accessibility remain barriers.

The Shadows of Vibe Coding — Failure Cases

Yara AI — The Founder Who Voluntarily Shut Down

In November 2025, Yara AI founder Joe Braidwood and clinical psychologist Richard Stott voluntarily shut down their AI therapy app.

“We were working in an impossible space. For people with personality disorders or very precarious mental health, a chatbot is not a good place. AI is excellent for everyday stress or sleep issues, but has limitations in tracking changes over time.”

— Joe Braidwood, Yara AI

Tea App — 72,000 IDs Leaked

In July 2025, 72,000 user images were leaked from Tea, a women-only dating safety app. 13,000 driver's license photos were included. The cause: Firebase storage default settings left unchanged — anyone could access without authentication. The result of skipping security review of AI-generated code.

Systematic Security Study (Dec 2025)

Building the same 3 apps with 5 major vibe coding tools (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Replit, Devin) revealed 69 security vulnerabilities across 15 apps. 6 were critical. All tools produced SSRF vulnerabilities, and not a single app had CSRF protection or security headers.

Discussion Topics

In Week 2, we derived key questions. This week, we share our individual AI experiences and imagine what we can build as counselors. Starting next week, we begin building.