What it means for the future

Alexander Wang, the 28-year-old billionaire who co-founded Scale AI and is now CEO of AI at Meta, recently said that 13-year-olds should spend all their time coding. But what exactly is bioprogramming and why is it suddenly everywhere, from TikTok to tech conferences? Here’s a primer on bioprogramming, and why Gen Alpha might want to take it seriously.

Get to know the Messenger

Alexander Wang co-founded Scale AI when he was 19, bringing the startup to a valuation of nearly $29 billion before joining Meta this year as chief AI officer. He was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire until this month, when Shane Coplan, the 27-year-old founder and CEO of Polymarket, became a billionaire. Wang is currently worth $3.2 billion, according to Forbes.

Wang mentioned bioprogramming when he was interviewed on the Technology Brothers Podcast Network.

“If you’re 13, you should be spending all your time coding,” he said. “This is how you should live your life.”

Wang’s perspective is shaped by a generational shift: just as Bill Gates infiltrated computer labs as a teenager, Wang sees today’s AI tools as representing similar limits. He believes teens have a unique opportunity to turn AI fluency into a lifelong advantage

What is vibe coding?

Vibe coding is a new way of creating software where people communicate with artificial intelligence instead of writing complex code. Just describe what you want, such as “Build a weather app with a modern dashboard,” and an AI tool like Replit or Cursor Composer will do the rest. It builds the structure, links the data, and takes care of the design.

This approach makes programming faster, easier, and more creative. Instead of learning all the ins and outs of programming, users guide the AI ​​step by step, refining the results through prompts until things look and work the way they want. It feels less like writing code and more like collaborating with a digital assistant that understands your thoughts.

How does Gen Alpha respond?

About 40% of Replit users are students. Many of them are under 18 and new to programming. Young creators, like eight-year-old Faye, use tools to create games and chatbots from scratch.

You can see this trend all over TikTok: Creators like Riley Brown and Sabrina Ramonov are posting great coding introductory books and tutorials. Teens and kids are sharing creative projects, and even college students like 19-year-old Young Nev are documenting their journey building AI-powered business ideas on YouTube.

Why does it matter?

With bioprogramming, creating software is something almost anyone can do. It has the potential to empower young people to become programmers, designers and entrepreneurs simultaneously. It blurs the lines between maker and user, and promotes digital self-expression. Finally, it reframes computer science from its traditional technical roots into something more vibrant, with an emphasis on creative problem solving and imaginative innovation.