M.Sayed

// notes / 2026-05-20 · 4 min

Reviewing AI Coding Tools Without the Hype

AI / Workflow / YouTube

On my Arabic-language channel I review AI coding tools with one constraint: the tool does a real task in a real repo, and I show the full diff. No jump cuts over the part where it hallucinates an API.

The scorecard

  • Correctness: does the change compile and pass tests on the first try?
  • Scope discipline: did it touch only the files the task needed?
  • Explainability: can it say why, not just what?
  • Reversibility: is the diff small enough to review in five minutes?

The pattern across every review: AI is a fast junior: excellent at boilerplate and migrations, unreliable at architecture. Keep it inside guardrails (tests, CI, small diffs) and it earns its keep.

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