Do We Still Need Code Review in the AI Era?

Responsibility#

AI writes all the code for my own projects.

At work, AI also writes all the code for everyone on my team. I mean 100%, not 99.9%. We don’t even want to commit and push by hand.

The difference is that, with my own projects, I get the speed of AI coding while accepting the risk of overlooking architecture and implementation details. A company hires me to avoid the business risks of fully AI-written code while keeping the productivity gains. Discussing whether people need to review code, or whether they’ll be replaced, without that context is completely detached from reality.

In March, I spent $1,000 on ads for one of my projects. The results were underwhelming. I eventually traced the problem to a bug in the code, and I fully accepted that outcome. I had spent more time researching the market, traffic, and customers, and hadn’t had time to study the code in detail.

I can accept the risks my bugs create, because I’m both the only beneficiary and the one who bears the risk.

But that isn’t how things work at a company.

Companies hire programmers to keep projects moving and to ensure quality, preventing bugs that seriously hurt the business. So when you work for a company, take responsibility for your code, even when AI wrote it.

If you were the boss#

I want everyone reading this to imagine being the boss. You might be a solo developer or an independent content creator right now. But one day you’ll want to grow, and you’ll need other people to help you achieve your goals.

When you ask employees to report on their work, would you want to hear: “AI wrote it. I don’t know how it works,” “Yeah, that bug came from AI,” or “I’m not sure about the details. Let me ask AI. Give me a moment”? Would you want employees who take AI-generated code, use AI to analyze it and produce a slide deck, then use AI to write a script and read it aloud?

I don’t believe anyone who hires people wants employees like that.

That is irresponsible. Regardless of the role, regardless of whether the work involves coding, it is irresponsible.

Do we actually need code review?#

Many tweets are just one line: “Code review is no longer needed. Every programmer who refuses to use AI will become obsolete.”

I am absolutely certain these people have never worked at a company with more than ten people.

Having a job means taking responsibility for your work.

As a solo developer, of course I don’t need code review. My attention is split across coding, marketing, operations, customer support, and maintaining customer relationships. I don’t have time for code review or for digging into the details. AI is powerful, so of course I don’t need to inspect the code. Even if there is a bug, I am the one who ultimately bears the consequences.

But at a company, if you skip code review, have no safeguards to ensure the quality of what you deliver, and have no monitoring or alerts, then I’m sorry: you aren’t embracing AI. You’re avoiding responsibility. Don’t let people on Twitter who have never done real work brainwash you. This isn’t keeping up with the times. It’s giving up your core professional edge and your basic standards.