I ran an informal A/B test across 100 PRs, routing each through both AI and human review. AI caught 23 bugs humans missed. It also produced hundreds of useless comments. Here’s what the data actually says.
AI tools can genuinely help with legacy code — but only on the right problems. Understanding and documentation: yes. Refactoring core logic you don’t fully understand: hard no.
Senior engineers have seen enough hype cycles to be skeptical of AI tools — and their concerns about maintainability and debugging complexity are legitimate. But refusing to engage is its own kind of risk.
The NYT’s ‘Coding After Coders’ piece made a lot of engineers defensive. As a Tech Lead managing a small engineering team, I read it twice — what they nailed, what they completely missed, and why the real story is more complicated than either side admits.