AI Code Reviewers: Can They Replace Your Teammates?

Let’s be honest. We’ve all been there waiting for a teammate to finally review our PR while we nervously hover over the refresh button like it’s a game of Flappy Bird. Sometimes, it takes hours. Sometimes, days. And sometimes… it just gets merged without any feedback at all. Now, imagine this: you open a PR, and within seconds, BOOM! — you get insightful, contextual code review suggestions. Not from your colleague who’s deep in meetings. But from an AI. Yup, GitHub Copilot Code Review is doing just that. So, What Is GitHub Copilot Code Review? It’s an AI-powered feature baked into GitHub that reviews your code when you open a pull request. It reads your changes, understands the context (pretty impressively, I might add), and drops inline suggestions and comments. It even tells you why it suggests something, like a real reviewer. It’s Not Just About Catching Bugs Here’s what I found surprisingly useful. Copilot doesn’t just act like a nitpicky teammate. It actually helps you GROW. For instance: I recently learned about the .closest() method in Cypress thanks to a Copilot Code Review suggestion. I had used cy.get(locator).find() chaining many times where I had to locate an element which is in a haystack without a unique identifier, but never realized I could chain it with .closest() to navigate up the DOM tree before finding something else. If you too didn’t know about that, here is a simple example: Back to the topic! It was a small tip, but one I hadn’t come across before and it genuinely improved how I write selectors.. It actually helps you grow. I've had it point out performance improvements, suggest better naming conventions, and even bring up edge cases I hadn't thought about. You know that feeling when a teammate shares a cool new way of doing something and you’re like, “Oh! I didn’t know that!”. Copilot delivers that vibe, minus the Slack ping. Apply Suggestions Directly from the PR Page One of my favorite things? You can apply its suggestions right from the PR interface. No jumping between tools. Just click, commit, and go. It’s a smooth workflow booster. And yes, you can also edit the suggestions before applying them if you want to tweak them your way. Can It Really Replace Teammates? Okay, so let’s get to the spicy part. Can it replace your teammates? Short answer: No! Long answer: AI code reviewers are incredibly helpful for catching low-hanging fruit, providing consistency, and teaching you a few tricks. But they still can’t replace the full context your teammates bring. Product knowledge, architecture decisions, design trade-offs, that’s still human territory (for now!). That said, AI reviewers can augment your team. They can take care of the boring stuff, speed up the review loop, and leave humans to focus on the deep stuff. And in that sense, it’s not a replacement, it’s a force multiplier. What About Other AI Code Review Tools? While GitHub Copilot Code Review is a standout tool, it’s not the only one in the game. Tools like CodiumAI, AWS CodeWhisperer, DeepCode (now Snyk Code), Tabnine, and ReviewPad are also helping developers get AI-driven insights on their code. Each of them brings something unique to the table, whether it’s test generation, security-focused reviews, or custom rule-based suggestions. That said, this article is all about Copilot’s review feature, because honestly, it’s super tightly integrated into GitHub and feels natural in everyday workflows. In Short GitHub Copilot Code Review is like a supercharged teammate that never sleeps. It gives smart, contextual suggestions and helps you learn better coding practices. You can apply changes directly from the PR interface. It won’t replace your team, but it sure can boost your productivity. If you’re not already using it, give it a shot. Worst case? You’ll learn something new. Best case? You’ll wonder how you lived without it ❤

Apr 21, 2025 - 07:48

AI Code Reviewers: Can They Replace Your Teammates?

Let’s be honest. We’ve all been there waiting for a teammate to finally review our PR while we nervously hover over the refresh button like it’s a game of Flappy Bird. Sometimes, it takes hours. Sometimes, days. And sometimes… it just gets merged without any feedback at all.

Now, imagine this: you open a PR, and within seconds, BOOM! — you get insightful, contextual code review suggestions. Not from your colleague who’s deep in meetings. But from an AI. Yup, GitHub Copilot Code Review is doing just that.

So, What Is GitHub Copilot Code Review?

It’s an AI-powered feature baked into GitHub that reviews your code when you open a pull request. It reads your changes, understands the context (pretty impressively, I might add), and drops inline suggestions and comments. It even tells you why it suggests something, like a real reviewer.

It’s Not Just About Catching Bugs

Here’s what I found surprisingly useful. Copilot doesn’t just act like a nitpicky teammate. It actually helps you GROW.

For instance:
I recently learned about the .closest() method in Cypress thanks to a Copilot Code Review suggestion. I had used cy.get(locator).find() chaining many times where I had to locate an element which is in a haystack without a unique identifier, but never realized I could chain it with .closest() to navigate up the DOM tree before finding something else.

If you too didn’t know about that, here is a simple example:

Back to the topic! It was a small tip, but one I hadn’t come across before and it genuinely improved how I write selectors..

It actually helps you grow. I've had it point out performance improvements, suggest better naming conventions, and even bring up edge cases I hadn't thought about.

You know that feeling when a teammate shares a cool new way of doing something and you’re like, “Oh! I didn’t know that!”. Copilot delivers that vibe, minus the Slack ping.

Apply Suggestions Directly from the PR Page

One of my favorite things? You can apply its suggestions right from the PR interface. No jumping between tools. Just click, commit, and go. It’s a smooth workflow booster. And yes, you can also edit the suggestions before applying them if you want to tweak them your way.

Can It Really Replace Teammates?

Okay, so let’s get to the spicy part.

Can it replace your teammates? Short answer: No!

Long answer: AI code reviewers are incredibly helpful for catching low-hanging fruit, providing consistency, and teaching you a few tricks. But they still can’t replace the full context your teammates bring. Product knowledge, architecture decisions, design trade-offs, that’s still human territory (for now!).

That said, AI reviewers can augment your team. They can take care of the boring stuff, speed up the review loop, and leave humans to focus on the deep stuff. And in that sense, it’s not a replacement, it’s a force multiplier.

What About Other AI Code Review Tools?

While GitHub Copilot Code Review is a standout tool, it’s not the only one in the game. Tools like CodiumAI, AWS CodeWhisperer, DeepCode (now Snyk Code), Tabnine, and ReviewPad are also helping developers get AI-driven insights on their code. Each of them brings something unique to the table, whether it’s test generation, security-focused reviews, or custom rule-based suggestions.

That said, this article is all about Copilot’s review feature, because honestly, it’s super tightly integrated into GitHub and feels natural in everyday workflows.

In Short

GitHub Copilot Code Review is like a supercharged teammate that never sleeps.
It gives smart, contextual suggestions and helps you learn better coding practices.
You can apply changes directly from the PR interface.
It won’t replace your team, but it sure can boost your productivity.

If you’re not already using it, give it a shot. Worst case? You’ll learn something new. Best case? You’ll wonder how you lived without it ❤