The patterns it talks about are true, but imo largely because of model defaults rather than model range. That is, if you prompt for a pelican on a bicycle, each model is going to have a small variety of ways to do it (the default). But if you add more details and requirements to the prompt, there are many, many different ways even a basic model can solve it (the range).

The additional prompting doesn't necessarily need to tell the model specifically what to fix or do better, sometimes it's just enough to break it out of its habit. Asking for a smart looking, middle aged pelican on a sporty red bike isn't making the problem easier but does break it out of its boring defaults.

I wouldn't go so far as to say PEBKAC but the good news is there's still a role for humans in the loop.