49 radically different AI-designed pages show the first answer is always mediocre
AIandDesign · x · 2026-10-13
Designer AIandDesign used 12 AI tools (Claude Code, Gemini, GPT, Qwen, Opus 5.5 and more) to create 49 radically different one-page portfolios for the same subject — each a single hand-set HTML file with no frameworks, just CSS, SVG and vanilla JS. He crowned Opus 5.5 "Best in Show".
Key findings from the experiment:
- The first answer is always the average answer: every initial output landed near the median portfolio aesthetic; good work only began once drafts were rejected outright.
- Specificity unlocks originality: "make it cool" returns mush, while "a working terminal where commands actually run" or "a postmarked envelope" returns design.
- Iteration is the actual craft: every page went through 6-12 revisions of naming what felt generic and pushing for weirder options.
His thesis: AI can produce genuinely original design — if you refuse the obvious answer. Design taste is what turns a template generator into a tool that makes work worth looking at.
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