Very different they are not talking about HF, it's more about automatize all the processes of entire desk especially around equities.
they are not mentioning at all about HF in the article.
I thinks its taking place a bit everywhere, and often without noticing.
For example, How many time you call a coworker to help you out on a struggle, and just by explaining to him the process, you are finding out the problem.
Your coworker was a rubber duck for few minutes.
To answer to your questions, I had never personally seen a guy talking to a rubber duck(or any other object), but I have seen, many times, successful debugging just by explaining aloud the process without any input from the listener.