There is a rule that states that 80% of results stem from 20% of the efforts. This principle is known as Pareto’s Principle, better known as the 80/20 rule. There are many applications of this principle including business, management, and economics, to name a few. Additionally, this rule poses a daily structure that may help to prevent procrastination. For example, the principle states that 20% of what we do produces 80% of the results we experience. Using this principle, we are able to prioritize the few hours it takes to do schoolwork by focusing on the important 20% of what we do. Though, it’s the problem of bringing ourselves to do that 20% of work.
However, this principle has a wide range of utility. For instance, in the programming world, 80% of bugs are found within 20% of the program. This helps software engineers narrow down their search for bugs, ultimately saving time during their debugging process. As a programmer, every second spent on debugging adds up, eventually leading to hours of just debugging. Basically, this principle gives programmers a better mindset when it comes to dealing with debugging. Additionally, programs spend 80% of its time executing 20% of its code. This sounds quite similar to the first statement that we spend 80% of our time to yield 20% of the outcome showing that programs are reflections of programmers’ mentality.
This leads to how AI may behave based on the team of programmers that developed it. Pareto’s Principle now provides an explanation to why AI biases may occur. The 80/20 rule provides new interpretations for leisure activities and even work activities.
