{"slug": "the-first-80-is-the-easy-part", "title": "The First 80% Is the Easy Part", "summary": "AI can generate 80% of an output with 20% of the effort, but the remaining 20% of the output still requires 80% of the work, according to Steve Berry in a blog post published Aug 11, 2026. Berry argues that the speed of AI-generated drafts makes diligence feel inefficient, yet the final editing, questioning, and refining is where taste and exceptional design emerge.", "body_md": "# The First 80% Is the Easy Part\n\nIn art school, we had a saying: the last 20% is the last 80%. That final stretch is where good design becomes exceptional.\n\nPublished Aug 11, 2026\n\nAuthor Steve Berry\n\nIn art school, we had a saying: the last 20% is the last 80%. That final stretch: details, revisions, the faffing about, is where good design becomes exceptional.\n\nAI has flipped the beginning of that equation. It can give you 80% of an output with 20% of the effort. And because so much appears so quickly, it creates the illusion that the work is done.\n\nIt isn’t. You may have 80% of the output, but you still have 80% of the work ahead of you.\n\nThe remaining work is slower and less gratifying. It’s editing, questioning, refining, recomposing, removing, and staying with the piece long enough to notice what everyone else will miss. It can take four, eight, even ten times longer than generating the first pass…exactly!\n\nThat’s the part people skip! The speed of the first draft makes diligence feel boring & inefficient. How wrong they are. The boring work nobody cares to examine IS THE work.\n\nDetails haven’t become less important because the draft arrived faster — they matter more. Everyone can produce something reasonably competent in seconds. Taste lives in taking the time and care to making careful boring decisions for hours.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-first-80-is-the-easy-part", "canonical_source": "https://thoughtmerchants.com/opinion/the-first-80-percent-is-the-easy-part", "published_at": "2026-08-11 18:54:41+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-11 20:16:12.593676+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["generative-ai"], "entities": ["Steve Berry"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-first-80-is-the-easy-part", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-first-80-is-the-easy-part.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-first-80-is-the-easy-part.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/the-first-80-is-the-easy-part.jsonld"}}