I don't actually think I frame that as the only alternative. There's nuance on the article. It's a bit up to you how to interpret it. Some options are:

• He would have actually kept the job if he hadn't slacked off the final week, and kept using AI.
• The job was not a good fit for him anyway because the vibecode-heavy workspace virtually required using AI. But that doesn't meant that there wouldn't be other jobs for him (he gets one at the end btw).
• He might have been able to get by without AI if he didn't go through his gargantuan vimwiki project for 3 weeks.