RuboCop is a tool that analyzes code and checks for stylistic issues, errors, and metrics like class and method length. It can detect potential code smells. The document discusses how to configure RuboCop rules and integrate it into a pull request workflow to automatically check code quality. Automated checks help evolve code design over time by surfacing issues for developers to address or ignore as they see fit. The goal is to continually improve code through refactoring when problems are found.