Impact of AI on Code Reviews and Productivity

The talk by Todd Resudek centers on the impact of AI and automated tools on code reviews and overall developer productivity. He highlights the drawbacks of traditional, human-based code reviews, including delays and inconsistencies, and suggests AI as a potential solution. Resudek contrasts past technological shifts and their impact on professions, such as photography replacing oil portraiture, and discusses how modern tools like Codium AI and Code Rabbit can enhance or replace certain coding tasks traditionally handled by humans. By drawing on historical and contemporary examples, including IBM's Deep Blue defeating chess champions and contemporary applications like GitHub Copilot, he underscores the inevitability and benefits of integrating AI into development workflows. The overarching message is the potential for AI to augment human productivity and reduce friction in code review processes, allowing developers to focus on more creative and complex tasks.