Vibe Coding Quiz: How Ready Are You for the New Software Economy?

A small physical therapy clinic wants to use an AI scheduling chatbot on their website. Patients will input their names, contact info, and appointment reasons (which may reference medical conditions). What is required before deploying the chatbot?

A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the chatbot provider, since the chatbot may process Protected Health Information under HIPAA A standard terms of service acceptance by the clinic is sufficient Chatbots don't count as HIPAA-covered technology — only EHR systems do HIPAA only applies to clinics with more than 20 employees

What is 'cash flow forecasting' and how do AI tools help small businesses with it?

Cash flow forecasting is only relevant for businesses with over $1 million in revenue Cash flow forecasting predicts stock market returns for a small business investment portfolio Cash flow forecasting predicts when money will come in and go out; AI tools analyze past patterns and outstanding invoices to project future balances automatically AI tools create cash flow reports by scraping competitor financial data

What is the key question to ask when evaluating which small business tasks to automate?

Does the task require creativity, and if so, automation is required Would my competitors approve of automating this task? How much does it cost to buy the automation tool? Could this task be done by a machine if the machine had the right inputs? If yes, automation is likely viable

A small law firm uses an AI document tool that stores all case materials. They are considering switching providers. What vendor-related risk should they have addressed during onboarding?

Whether case documents can be exported in standard formats — allowing migration without data loss if they switch providers Whether the existing provider offers referral discounts Whether the AI was trained on legal documents Whether the new provider offers a lower price

A small business owner asks ChatGPT for advice on which business entity structure to use for tax purposes. What is the appropriate way to use this output?

Implement the AI's recommendation directly — ChatGPT knows current tax law Ignore AI entirely for financial questions — it cannot be trusted Ask AI a second time to confirm the recommendation before acting Use the AI explanation to understand the concepts and questions to ask, then consult a CPA or tax attorney for the actual decision

Which tool is specifically designed for non-programmers to build full web applications through natural language, with no local installation?

Python IDLE — a standard Python development environment Cursor — a code editor requiring programming knowledge GitHub Copilot — requires a pre-existing codebase and developer workflow Bolt.new, Lovable, or v0 — purpose-built browser-based platforms for natural language app creation

What is Zapier most commonly used for by small businesses?

Creating AI chatbots for customer service Building mobile apps using natural language Automating workflows between apps — triggering actions in one app when something happens in another, without coding Managing team schedules and vacation requests

A small business wants to use AI for drafting responses to customer complaints that include customer names and order details. What is the simplest way to reduce privacy risk while still using AI?

Never use AI for any customer-related communications Use AI only on Tuesdays when server load is lower and data is more secure Ask the AI not to store the customer's name after the session Anonymize the data — replace the customer name with 'Customer' and describe the order generically — before sending to the AI tool

A manager asks AI to 'rewrite this paragraph to sound more empathetic.' The AI produces a warm, caring-sounding response. What is the remaining risk before sending?

The AI will have removed all the key information from the paragraph The AI doesn't know the actual relationship — the rewritten tone may not match what the recipient expects from this person No risk — tone adjustment is a task AI handles reliably Empathy-based language is prohibited in business communications

Who coined the term 'vibe coding' and what does it describe?

It emerged from Reddit and has no single author — it describes using AI to debug code Linus Torvalds coined it to describe open-source collaborative development Sam Altman coined it to describe OpenAI's internal development methodology Andrej Karpathy coined it to describe building software by describing what you want in natural language, with AI writing the code

In the vibe coding workflow, what is the human's primary role?

Product designer and decision-maker — describing what they want, testing results, and steering the direction Writing the core logic while AI handles boilerplate formatting Translating existing code from one programming language to another Reviewing AI-generated code line by line for security vulnerabilities

What is the most effective first step when asking an AI to write a professional email on your behalf?

Write the email yourself first, then ask AI to make it longer Use the AI's default style so it doesn't sound AI-generated Provide the context — who the recipient is, what the goal is, and what tone is appropriate — before asking for a draft Ask for the email without context and then copy it directly

A freelance photographer manually enters all expenses into a spreadsheet for tax time, spending 3 hours each month. Which AI tool most directly eliminates this work?

Xero's API for developer-automated accounting ChatGPT — by manually listing expenses in conversation An accounting tool like QuickBooks, FreshBooks, or Wave that automatically categorizes bank and card transactions and organizes them by category A calendar reminder to do expense entry weekly instead of monthly

A small business evaluates an AI tool and discovers it will fine-tune its model using the company's customer data to improve future recommendations. What is the most important consideration before agreeing?

Whether the model will be available to the business for download Whether using customer data for model training complies with the business's privacy policy and applicable data protection regulations — and whether customers consented Whether the model improvement will be visible to the business within 30 days Whether fine-tuning on small business data produces measurably better results

Which of these vendor claims is a RED FLAG suggesting a tool may not have meaningful AI capability?

The tool integrates with Zapier 'AI-powered' prominently featured in marketing but no specific explanation of what the AI does in the product The vendor has raised venture capital funding The tool requires a free trial signup before showing pricing

What is the vibe coding 'loop' after you receive an initial AI-generated app?

Open the source code, fix bugs manually, then ask AI to add features Deploy to production immediately and gather user feedback Test the output, describe what needs to change in natural language, let AI revise, and repeat Submit the code to a human developer for review and refinement

A freelance designer wants to automate the process of getting a new client to sign a contract and pay a deposit. Which combination of tools enables this?

QuickBooks to generate an invoice that automatically becomes a signed contract ChatGPT to negotiate the contract terms automatically Calendly to schedule the contract signing meeting and collect payment DocuSign or HelloSign for e-signature + Stripe for automated payment collection + Zapier to connect form submission to triggering both

An employee sends a client email that was AI-drafted and contains incorrect information. Who bears professional responsibility?

No one — errors from AI tools are treated as force majeure events The employee — they are responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of anything they send, regardless of how it was drafted The employer — they allowed AI tool usage at work The AI tool provider — they provide the drafting service

You use an AI tool to draft a client proposal email. The AI includes a specific statistic — '73% of companies in your industry report cost savings from this approach.' What should you do before sending?

Add a disclaimer that the email was AI-generated Remove all statistics since AI cannot know current data Verify the statistic independently — AI tools frequently fabricate specific data points and percentages Send it — AI models only include verified statistics

What does SOC 2 certification indicate about an AI tool vendor?

The vendor has undergone an independent security audit verifying their security controls, data availability, processing integrity, and confidentiality The vendor stores data in the US and is subject to US law The vendor is approved by the US government for handling classified data The vendor's AI models are certified as bias-free