Modulo things like compliance where all changes must be traced back to an auditable review, abandoning the assumption that Pull Requests are necessary to keep the default branch working is an experiment everyone should try.
Having worked on projects where pairing replaced PRs it's virtually unheard of in many shops to trust individuals to this level. But it works just fine in many circumstances because for larger changes you eventually end up using PRs as something more than a rubber stamp.
I have heard the same as well.
These days, I am thinking about how AI code gen can be affecting this. When AI is writing code, you can't assume yourself to be the pair programmer, because your speed is not even close to the AI's. You are basically reviewing the code that AI has written.
So should people be thinking about pair-reviewing AI code so that they get the benefits of pair programming along with the speed of AI?
Having worked on projects where pairing replaced PRs it's virtually unheard of in many shops to trust individuals to this level. But it works just fine in many circumstances because for larger changes you eventually end up using PRs as something more than a rubber stamp.