But, is that different from how we already work with humans? Typically we don't let people commit whatever code they want just because they're human. It's more than just code reviews. We have design reviews, sometimes people pair program, there are unit tests and end-to-end tests and all kinds of tests, then code review, continuous integration, Q&A. We have systems to watch prod for errors or user complaints or cost/performance problems. We have this whole toolkit of process and techniques to try to get reliable programs out of what you must admit are unreliable programmers.

The question isn't whether agentic coders are perfect. Actually it isn't even whether they're better than humans. It's whether they're a net positive contribution. If you turn them loose in that kind of system, surrounded by checks and balances, does the system tend to accumulate bugs or remove them? Does it converge on high or low quality?

I think the answer as of Opus 4.5 or so is that they're a slight net positive and it converges on quality. You can set up the system and kind of supervise from a distance and they keep things under control. They tend to do the right thing. I think that's what they're saying in this article.