The 80-Percent Rule

Here's a rule that will save you from most AI mistakes: treat AI output as 80 percent done, and plan for a human to do the last 20 percent.

The AI drafts the email — you fix the tone. The AI summarizes the meeting — you check the action items. The AI categorizes the expenses — you spot-check the odd ones. That last 20 percent is where judgment lives, and judgment is still a human job.

Trouble starts when teams treat AI output as 100 percent done. Nobody reviews, errors ship to customers, and the business learns an expensive lesson about trust. The tool wasn't broken — the process around it was. There was no step that said "a person looks at this before it leaves the building."

In plain English, this is called keeping a human in the loop — meaning a person reviews and approves AI output before it matters. It sounds formal. It's just proofreading with a purpose.

Build the 20 percent into the workflow from day one: who reviews, what they check, how long it takes. Then AI makes your people faster without making your business sloppier.

I explain frameworks; I don't give legal counsel.