This Month in React | Mark & Carl talk with Swizec Teller about using AI at work

Mark & Carl talk with Swizec Teller about using AI at work

May 7, 2026 / 01:04:27/S3 E4

Transcript

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(00:00) - This Month in React April
(00:26) - Introductions
(02:36) - What convinced you AI code tools were worth using?
(04:24) - Using early ChatGPT for DB migrations
(06:59) - Watching AI use a command-line
(08:16) - Background chat agents
(08:58) - Staying very hands-on while using AI tools
(11:00) - Driving AI closely without reading its code
(17:50) - Mark's workflow; OpenCode with CodeNomad UI, plus IDE+git UI. Opus 4.6 on API
(20:39) - Swizec's workflow, latest Cursor on Opus
(23:58) - Carl's workflow, mostly ClaudeCode but looking at custom orchestrators
(25:23) - Exploring fully autonomous agents
(28:08) - Mark's AI debugging work in React core
(31:42) - Value of providing more context
(33:58) - AI-owned documentation
(37:09) - Using good engineering practices still matters?
(40:47) - How do you know the right code to make?
(42:49) - Good communication still matters
(45:13) - What will "review" look like in the future?
(46:17) - Automating functionality tests with deployment practices
(51:49) - What behaviors belong to the agent, and what fundamentally can't be part of the agent?
(56:17) - Impacts of LLMs on software engineering?
(01:03:22) - A superpower right now is a domain expert who can kind of code

An engineer maintaining Redux and Redux Toolkit, working at Replay.io to make smarter AI chat bots and debuggers using time travel.

Carl Vitullo

Solopreneur just vibing, posts are probably bullshit. Community lead at Reactiflux, the largest chat community of React professionals.

Swizec Teller

Engineer and manager at a DNA sequencing as a service company, does a lot of React for really fancy data visualizations