Will AI vibecoded apps soon displace paid legacy software like Photoshop and Microsoft Word? Or will the deluge of apps spun up by AI models show that those legacy apps are superior products?
Earlier this month, Reddit user u/ai_art_is_art, who Tom's Hardware revealed to be a software engineer named Brandon Thomas, shared a project he's been working on: A rebuild of the entire Adobe Creative Suite, under the banner ArtCraft. There is one key difference between ArtCraft and Adobe software, however: You have to pay to access Adobe.
From Adobe Premiere to Photoshop to After Effects, Thomas recreated them all with help from AI in Rust, a programming language. Named PhotoCraft, FilmCraft, DesignCraft, EffectCraft, PdfCraft, VectorCraft, and LightCraft, each duplicated one of the signature apps found in Adobe's software suite for creatives.
And Thomas has released them all as free, open-source tools.
Now, the developer is taking on the Microsoft Office suite.
Thomas has just released WordCraft, DeckCraft, and GridCraft (along with additional creative duplicates like SoundCraft, DesignCraft, and CADCraft), which are his take on Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
These apps have caused a bit of a controversy on Reddit and elsewhere on the internet over AI-generated code. While Thomas has clarified that he is a software developer who knows how to code, concerns over cybersecurity and the ethics of AI-generated code have resulted in posts about his apps being removed from some subreddits.
In addition, there is concern that Thomas is now overseeing a suite of apps by himself, although the community has been invited to contribute to the open-source project as well.
Thomas is clearly pro-AI, which has also been a point of contention for some critics. He has released these apps under his ArtCraft brand, a for-profit suite of tools for AI-generated art. Also, if you take another look at Thomas' Reddit username, it is "AI art is art."
Supporters of Thomas and his apps, however, view this as an act of protest against companies like Adobe and what they see as unscrupulous subscription tactics, in which Adobe makes it difficult for customers to cancel plans.
It's unclear if Thomas's apps have staying power at this point, but that hasn't stopped social media users from speculating that the era of paid legacy software is over. Indeed, we're seeing a similar trend in the gaming world, where AI-assisted jailbreaks and decompiled games are now readily available.
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