: The Downside of Using ChatGPT for Website Building

[lousa]

ChatGPT has made building websites much easier, especially for people who don't have much coding experience. You can generate code, troubleshoot errors, create content, and get ideas within minutes.

But there’s a downside that doesn’t get discussed enough.

Relying too heavily on AI can leave webmasters with code they don't fully understand. A solution might work initially but create security, performance, compatibility, or maintenance problems later. AI-generated code can also contain unnecessary scripts, outdated approaches, or small errors that are difficult to notice until something breaks.

There’s also the temptation to let AI handle everything instead of learning how the website actually works.

Where do you draw the line between using ChatGPT as a helpful tool and relying on it too much?

Would you trust AI to build an entire website, or would you always want a developer to review the important parts?

[mopek1]

I also love that I can get quick code for a site, but rarely like the way the design looks. It's like AI has no idea how to make the design look good. They all look like amateur geocities type styles.

[TheSquealer]

chatgpt is very literally one of the very worst ai engines to use for code. it can be decent to build mockups for other engines to code to... but chatgpt itself is terrible for coding.

[lousa]

chatgpt is very literally one of the very worst ai engines to use for code. it can be decent to build mockups for other engines to code to... but chatgpt itself is terrible for coding.

lazy citizens blaiming immigrants for unemloymeny in a no man's land

[blackmonsters]

Ai is OK for small snippets of code. I still have to debug them sometimes.
I would not trust an entire site built with AI.
Stackoverflow has more reliable code than AI.

[V_RocKs]

Use Claude to code or use code from Venice. There are quite a few others than can vibe a site for you. GPT seems more for the ideas of things than for actually coding an entire website.

[cordoba]

You're giving advice to a spambot.

[The Porn Nerd]

There is a huge difference between CODING and DESIGN. Backend coding? I would trust Claude code more. Design? That's a whole other ballgame.

[TheLegacy]

Thank god for this thread - to often have i been in battles with programmers who swear by Chat that it's the greatest thing since sliced bread but then i state that there are few programmers i know who use it - then are forced to go back because the coding given was wrong and needed tweaking or simply was not the right answer to their problem. What do I know I'm just an SEO guy they say. Well I am an SEO guy who listens to many programmers who curse under their breath or deliver software or websites that are broken all because they used Chat for the coding - only to find it didn't code it properly.

I'm going to just sit and enjoy - save and reuse when i face their statements again

[GilDB]

Claude Code VSC extension definitely the best for this purpose, I'd rather jam a knife down my prick than use ChatGPT for anything. Just make sure whatever AI agent you're using it's only writing code that you are able to debug yourself.

[Spicy Wraith]

ChatGPT's Astra model did this one in roughly an hour. Now I have Claude do backend work and Astra has been doing a great job on the frontend.

https://vegasscorpioncontrol.com/

[dyna mo]

ChatGPT's Astra model did this one in roughly an hour. Now I have Claude do backend work and Astra has been doing a great job on the frontend.

https://vegasscorpioncontrol.com/

looks nice. ive been using chatgpt "sites" to build an adult paysite. seems ok.

[Spicy Wraith]

looks nice. ive been using chatgpt "sites" to build an adult paysite. seems ok.

Thanks. All of the photos are AI as well.

Need banners made? Done in three minutes, with the phone number done as click to call directly when displayed on my sites.

[Killswitch]

I exclusively use Claude Code and Claude Design (Fable only) for everything now.

I've built a cloud hosting platform this way. https://primcloud.com

[JesseQuinn]

have a friend who's a programmer and his thing these days is fixing security errors in vibe coded stuff, for peeps building real biz and realizing quite quickly that without coding experience even claude leaves much to be desired in terms of finished project

doesn't mean AI is a bad thing (it's not), and no doubt saves peeps a lot of money using it. as I do as well in terms of time-cost where it makes sense and fits in to my work flows. but as I've written before AI is a tool and it's foolish to treat website code as finished product if one doesn't understand it

for front end design?

personally I find these new AI-built sites boring. they all look the same with varied colour schemes. not talking scripts. modules with rounded corner buttons, identical fonts, predictable right/left/center panels. was innovative for about as long as it took for my last coat of nail polish to dry. zero personality or brand essence to convey anything unique or special

AI has a place, or rather multiple places in our lives, but to reiterate my thoughts in a past thread, forefront presentation of that is gonna be self-defeating if one is a real biz selling something real

our clients and potential ones encounter the same AI slop we do here, deal with useless AI chatbots on the services they use, worry about AI catfishing in the adult realm (y'all have no idea how often new clients challenge me on whether I am real or not, thank dawg I have a web presence that proves I have a pulse)

suspect these obv AI websites will follow in the same vein. cookie cutter is gonna achieve mediocre results. fitting as that's what the effort is

needs a human touch re security at minimum

[Mahadeva]

If you're going to use AI to generate a post on GFY (which you did here), at least put in some slight effort to make it less obvious. Can we all agree on that as a minimum bar?

[mopek1]

personally I find these new AI-built sites boring. they all look the same with varied colour schemes. not talking scripts. modules with rounded corner buttons, identical fonts, predictable right/left/center panels. was innovative for about as long as it took for my last coat of nail polish to dry. zero personality or brand essence to convey anything unique or special

AI has a place, or rather multiple places in our lives,

This was perfectly said. AI is awesome, but the design leaves much to be desired. No personality, it just feels like a dead zone and site visitors can feel that as well.

[fris]

chatgpt is horrible for code compare to claude. with my own setup for the items i do use for claude (documentation, and playwright testing for mobile first designs mainly) i have my own strict guardrails what to do, what not to do.

[fris]

This was perfectly said. AI is awesome, but the design leaves much to be desired. No personality, it just feels like a dead zone and site visitors can feel that as well.

ive written my own design skill which will do great tube designs, porn dirs, review sites, etc.

[mopek1]

What I'm usually looking for is a design that doesn't look like it was made by AI. The same way people try to make images look real. So they can be useful and look like they have a soul.

[grzepa]

its all great

[GilDB]

have a friend who's a programmer and his thing these days is fixing security errors in vibe coded stuff, for peeps building real biz and realizing quite quickly that without coding experience even claude leaves much to be desired in terms of finished project

doesn't mean AI is a bad thing (it's not), and no doubt saves peeps a lot of money using it. as I do as well in terms of time-cost where it makes sense and fits in to my work flows. but as I've written before AI is a tool and it's foolish to treat website code as finished product if one doesn't understand it.

Agree with all of this. I think AI can be super useful for people who already know how to do the thing, or at the very least have a basic understanding of how it works. But the amount of vibe coded stuff that the authors are completely unable to debug without AI is insane. I've been coding for nearly 30 years and find Claude helpful for the most part, but I still need to rein it in constantly, otherwise it completely over-engineers the product or vanishes down stupid rabbit holes. I can't possibly imagine using it to develop something with zero coding experience.

[fris]

What I'm usually looking for is a design that doesn't look like it was made by AI. The same way people try to make images look real. So they can be useful and look like they have a soul.

yes mine is unique, and not your typical ai generations as i have strcit instructions in my skill