ChatGPT's Code Review Capabilities: Strengths and Critical Limitations

ChatGPT can effectively identify real bugs, security vulnerabilities, and code quality issues in isolated code snippets, making it a valuable supplementary tool for developers. However, its fundamental limitations—lack of repository context, inability to understand diffs, and absence of institutional knowledge—mean it cannot replace comprehensive professional code reviews. Developers must understand what ChatGPT can reliably do versus where human review remains essential.