Keen to check out the latest Rick Rubin production? OK… Take a seat… This is going to take a little explaining. Rubin’s latest isn’t a record, it’s a “new creative medium” and it’s free, out there to play with, live on the internet.
The producer has just unveiled The Way of Code, a website based on Lau Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, the ancient classic text and the foundational work of Taoism, the process of achieving harmony with nature, personal self-development, and spiritual immortality.
Yup, it's safe to say that Rubin has something of a sideline going on and AI just enabled his thoughtful, meditative side to go public.
“Each encounter I’ve had with Lao Tzu has pointed to something new,” says Rubin about his new project. “Almost as if the book changes with every reading. I first picked up Stephen Mitchell’s translation 40 years ago at the Bodhi Tree bookstore in Los Angeles and my life has never been quite the same.”
Taoism – the principle within Lau Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, emphasises principles like simplicity, spontaneity, and effortless action – all things that are perfectly in tune with the new movement of [cough] Vibe Coding and it’s safe to say that Rubin is a fan.
If you’re yet to discover the value of code, why it can be an important addition to your life and AI’s increasing ability to create it, allow us to explain.
Vibe Coding refers to the process of using AI to create code. That is, rather than having an intimate knowledge of the workings of the computer and then typing in the instructions in the language that it understands, AI allows you to simply say what you want the program to do (in language that you understand) and the computer will create the code to do it.
Basically you ask the computer to program itself… And it does.
Thus, programming becomes less ‘manual’, less ‘man vs machine’ and more… vibe… man.
And Rick Rubin loves it.
“Inspired millions on their creative journey”
His first work using the principle is now live on the internet, being a digital, interactive take on the Lau Tzu text he loves so much, that he’s titled The Way of Code.
Working alongside AI research and development company Anthropic, The Way Of Code teams 81 “meditations on creative mindset” with interactive code “artifacts” created by Anthropic's AI assistant Claude.
If that all sounds a bit strange, head off to the site and all will become clear. Scrolling down reveals each of Rubin’s 81 inspirational thoughts in turn, with Anthropic’s Claude AI conjuring up animations to the left that visitors to the site can reshape with a hovering mouse pointer.
“The code that can be named is not the eternal code. The function that can be defined is not the limitless function,” writes Rubin “The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth. The named is the mother of ten thousand things.”
And yes, there are 81 of these things…
After all, this is the guy that wrote The Creative Act, A Way of Being a book that has “inspired millions on their creative journey”. Now he's turning his hand to getting AI involved, with the aim of showing that technology can and should augment creative expression rather than replace it.
"The vibe coding process feels familiar," says Rubin. "Art creation always starts with a prompt, a seed. It can be several sentences or something you notice on a walk. Anything can work as a first prompt. Only you can decide that."
Rubin intends The Way of Code not just to be a passive reading/learning experience but an interactive one with users able to change and ‘remix’ the imagery created by the Claude AI as they contemplate Rubin’s wise, inspirational words.
"The world around you is pregnant with potential points of entry on your creative quest," Rubin explains. "Now find a seed and start modeling and modifying until you have something you're excited to share."
Check out Rubin’s AI vibes at TheWayofCode.com.
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