AI hot takes: should developers still read code? | S02E03 | The GitHub Podcast

Name: AI hot takes: should developers still read code? | S02E03 | The GitHub Podcast
Uploaded: 2026-09-16T15:00:17+00:00
Description: GitHub hosts Cassidy and GPS discuss common AI “hot takes” aimed at developers, including whether reading code still matters, how hiring expectations are...

Today by GitHub

Cassidy and GPS also share a couple of open-source project picks and a hardware tangent.

Overview

In this episode of The GitHub Podcast, the hosts work through a set of AI-focused developer debates that have been circulating on social media, aiming to separate strong opinions from practical reality.

Episode segments (from the chapter list)

Welcome and open-source hardware projects
Should developers still read code?
Mourning the craft of manual software engineering
Will companies hire developers who do not use AI?
Have agent skills killed MCP?
Is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) dead?
Does fine-tuning a model mean your codebase is bad?
Open-source project pick: pollinations.ai
Open-source project pick: Avian Visitors (e-ink bird collage)
Wrap-up and host socials

Links mentioned

Pollinations AI: https://pollinations.ai
Avian Visitors: https://theodore.net/projects/AvianVisitors/