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Be afraid, be very afraid.

  • 1.  Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-10-2023 01:20

    I just gave a request to ChatGPT and it produced this response.

    Actually fairly good, it gave me information about the subject I didn't realize:

    Write an article about cognitive bias as it affects the perception of piano tonal changes during voicing of piano hammers.

    The sound of a piano is one of the most recognizable and beloved musical timbres in the world. However, the way that we perceive the sound of a piano can be influenced by cognitive bias, particularly when it comes to the voicing of piano hammers.

    Voicing is the process of shaping and adjusting the felt on the hammers of a piano to achieve a desired tone. This is a crucial step in the production of a high-quality piano sound, as it can greatly impact the clarity, projection, and character of each note. However, the subjective nature of tone perception means that voicing is a highly personal and subjective process, and it can be influenced by a range of cognitive biases.

    One common cognitive bias that can impact the perception of piano tonal changes during voicing is the confirmation bias. This is the tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms pre-existing beliefs or expectations. In the context of piano voicing, this can mean that a voicer may unconsciously adjust the hammers in a way that confirms their preconceived notion of what a "good" piano tone should sound like. For example, if a voicer believes that a brighter, more resonant tone is superior, they may adjust the hammers in a way that emphasizes those qualities, even if it does not necessarily result in the most balanced or pleasing sound.

    Another cognitive bias that can affect the perception of piano tonal changes is the framing effect. This is the tendency to make different decisions based on how information is presented or framed. In the context of piano voicing, this can mean that the way that a voicer approaches the process of hammer shaping can impact their perception of the resulting sound. For example, if a voicer is instructed to "brighten" the tone of a piano, they may focus on adjusting the hammer felt to emphasize high-frequency overtones, even if it results in a harsh or unbalanced sound.

    A third cognitive bias that can impact the perception of piano tonal changes during voicing is the anchoring effect. This is the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making subsequent decisions. In the context of piano voicing, this can mean that a voicer may be anchored to the initial sound of the piano, even after making significant changes to the hammer felt. For example, if a voicer begins with a piano that has a bright, ringing tone, they may continue to hear the piano as bright and ringing, even after making adjustments that would typically result in a warmer or more mellow sound.

    It is important to recognize the impact of cognitive bias on the perception of piano tonal changes during voicing, as it can help to mitigate these effects and achieve a more objective and balanced sound. This can be achieved by seeking out multiple opinions and perspectives on the sound of the piano, as well as using objective measures such as tuning software or frequency analysis tools to assess the tonal balance of the instrument. By being mindful of cognitive bias, voicers can ensure that their adjustments to the hammer felt result in the best possible sound for each individual piano, rather than being influenced by preconceptions or biases.

    --  Blaine Hébert


  • 2.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-10-2023 02:37

    Yow!
    and
    Yikes!



    ------------------------------
    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
    ------------------------------



  • 3.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-10-2023 07:36

    Interesting.  Although I see no mention of dynamic range of the hammer.  It appeared to be only concerned with a black and white situation of sound.  A properly working hammer has a range of tone and voiced to the owner's liking.  This usually means adjusting the upper and lower overtones as to when they start to appear and how much power there is.



    ------------------------------
    Tim Coates RPT
    Sioux Falls SD
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-10-2023 08:18
    So I asked the IA to include the notion of Dynamic range and with a few back-and-forth, it answered:

    Great, here's the revised version with the addition of dynamic range:

    The sound of a piano is one of the most recognizable and beloved musical timbres in the world. However, the way that we perceive the sound of a piano can be influenced by cognitive bias, particularly when it comes to the voicing of piano hammers.

    Voicing is the process of shaping and adjusting the felt on the hammers of a piano to achieve a desired tone and dynamic range. This is a crucial step in the production of a high-quality piano sound, as it can greatly impact the clarity, projection, and character of each note. Achieving a well-balanced dynamic range is essential to ensure that the piano can effectively express the full range of musical expression, from the softest and most delicate pianissimo to the loudest and most powerful fortissimo.

    However, the subjective nature of tone perception means that voicing is a highly personal and subjective process, and it can be influenced by a range of cognitive biases.

    One common cognitive bias that can impact the perception of piano tonal changes during voicing is the confirmation bias. This is the tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms pre-existing beliefs or expectations. In the context of piano voicing, this can mean that a voicer may unconsciously adjust the hammers in a way that confirms their preconceived notion of what a "good" piano tone should sound like.

    Another cognitive bias that can affect the perception of piano tonal changes is the framing effect. This is the tendency to make different decisions based on how information is presented or framed. In the context of piano voicing, this can mean that the way that a voicer approaches the process of hammer shaping can impact their perception of the resulting sound.

    A third cognitive bias that can impact the perception of piano tonal changes during voicing is the anchoring effect. This is the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered when making subsequent decisions.

    By being mindful of cognitive biases, voicers can ensure that their adjustments to the hammer felt result in the best possible sound for each individual piano, rather than being influenced by preconceptions or biases. Seeking out multiple opinions and perspectives on the sound of the piano, as well as using objective measures such as tuning software or frequency analysis tools to assess the tonal balance of the instrument, can also help to mitigate the effects of cognitive biases and achieve a more objective and balanced sound.

    Allan Sutton, m.mus. RPT
    www.pianotechniquemontreal.com





  • 5.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 02:36

    Allan, What would be more interesting and valuable would your own interpretation of this subject; how you think personal and cognative bias affects our perception of voicing?
    This is just a computer stringing together words related to the subjects.



    ------------------------------
    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 6.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-10-2023 08:21
    The way to use it is to work with it. "add this notion", "make it simpler", "remove this ...", "you are mistaken about this and that" or "you overlooked this aspect of the subject"



    Allan Sutton, m.mus. RPT
    www.pianotechniquemontreal.com





  • 7.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 02:37

    Tim, How do you think evaluation of dynamic range is affected by your own personal and cognative bias in voicing?



    ------------------------------
    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 07:30

    Blaine,
    Dynamic range is subjective in many ways.  The AI can't describe any subjectivity such as I mentioned as it all depends on how the piano interacts with the room, the owner's likes, and the "toolbox" of knowledge of the technician.

    But who am I to know where this going?  Look at what has happened with electronic keyboards.  Clever salesmanship has convinced a high percentage of the public the acoustic piano is dead and electronic keyboards are a wise investment.  It is a dumbing down of the public to not question.  It's like the Borg wanting you to feel resistance is futile.  But is it futile?  Ask any piano student what type of instrument they would rather play.



    ------------------------------
    Tim Coates RPT
    Sioux Falls SD
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 01:24

    No one who actually does voicing on real hammers should be the slightest bit afraid of this.  What this AI program gave you is entirely verbal and descriptive in a general way, and it describes mostly cognitive bias, as Blaine instructed it to.  Perhaps someone can correct me, but I rarely hear about cognitive bias in demonstrations on how to voice.  The computer has no clue how to hook up to a robot arm and actually stab the hammers, shape them or anything like that.  If you could somehow play a piano and the computer could listen as you voice it, again it would have no clue what you are doing.  AI programs are generating all sorts of discussion in the media, but folks seem to miss the fact that the intelligence is entirely verbal.  The irony of all this is that people in professions that require a lot of education and abstract intelligence are the ones who seem to be most worried about it.  People who work with their hands in skilled trades outside of a factory won't have anything to worry about for decades, maybe forever.






  • 10.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 01:46

    OK folks...

    Your responses have me repeating my title: Be afraid. Be very afraid.



    ------------------------------
    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 11.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 21:05

    Yes, Blaine, I'll be afraid, very afraid. (Actually more resigned and fatalistic about the future of humanity… and the rest of this planet.)

    Your question is a very mild test of what happens when you ask ChatGP a question. This is word salad (although very elegant), but fortunately of no consequence, because of a very esoteric field, piano voicing. It can't guess what you have in mind, what you'd like mentioned in the answer, and so it picks an aspect (cognitive bias) which is to be found found in many other contexts. And of course, all we're having it do is search for knowledge/info, never mind the challenges of a robot equaipped to follow thourgh on his AI-acquired "knowledge" on a set of piano hammers.

    Maybe this is the Piano Technicians Journal's solution to the lack of incoming articles from us. But far more pervasive, are the high school and college students who will have it doing their home work. Down goes the skill of critical thinking. But it's worse than that. It's the bad actors who are the early adoptures of a new platform. Besides writing essays, AI is also creating photographs, and counterfeiting video content. Combine this with peoples' general trust in the large part computers plays in their life, and their willingness to believe them. Get ready for lots of political and social mischief, whatever AI's positive contribution to our lives.

    (Now, what was the original topic……?) 



     



    ------------------------------
    William Ballard RPT
    WBPS
    Saxtons River VT
    802-869-9107

    "Our lives contain a thousand springs
    and dies if one be gone
    Strange that a harp of a thousand strings
    should keep in tune so long."
    ...........Dr. Watts, "The Continental Harmony,1774
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-12-2023 01:00

    Bill --
    I have a friend who teaches high school. Students are already using chatbots to do their written assignments. Unless the teacher knows that the student is not capable of that level of writing, there really is no way to know if it was written by the student or a bot. And worse, there is no way to prove it either way because any chatbot, when posed with the same question, written exactly the same way, will output a totally differently worded answer. Fortunately, (?), I am old enough that I will likely never have to suffer the consequences of having today's high school students making decisions that will affect me, but just the same...



    ------------------------------
    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 02:41

    My point is only about writing.  This program doesn't "know" anything about voicing.
    The ones to be afraid are writers, though I find this useful as it helps to break through writer's block, though it also creates a problem with copyright and personal authorship.
    The original article is only sophisticated "bla, bla, bla".



    ------------------------------
    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 14.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 02:47

    On a related subject:
    I received a shipment from Schaff today: three combination handle voicing heads.  I arrainged them with 1. two long fat needles, 2. three medium sized needles and 3. four short thin needles.  I/we will see how this voicing kit works next time I can talk a customer into voicing some desperatly needy piano.



    ------------------------------
    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 15.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 12:21

    I think the issue here is not what the chatbot said, it is the fact that it was able to pull this information together and represent it in a reasonably "intelligent" text. Given the question presented to it, it did provide a good layperson response. We, as knowledgeable techs, are not the target audience for it's response and so could read through it. I'm afraid because since it IS so well written, the target audience is going to start believing chatbot responses without question. With AI getting so powerful and sophisticated even the programmers are warning us that it is still very prone to inaccuracy. But most people don't care. They'll believe whatever they are fed because it is so well presented. Too many people will start believing it without question. Given a cleverly written question, it will even lie to us. And people will believe it.

    We are already inundated with AI manipulation of words and pictures. Many of which are becoming so well crafted that it's getting harder and harder to separate truth from fiction. (I am somehow reminded of Carrie Fisher's appearance in the last Star Wars movie years after she had died.)

    Like Blaine said: "Be afraid, be very afraid."



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    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
    ------------------------------



  • 16.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 21:05

    Geoff,
    We are only a frighteningly short time away from a musical composition from a program, with lyrics composed by a chatbot and delivered by a synthesized voice with a CGI actor, and that can't be told from a real music video.



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    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 17.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-11-2023 21:10

    On the other hand:
    This reminds me of the occasional inquirys by hotel managers for digital player pianos that can eliminate the messy expense of hiring musicians and tuning pianos.  I have to point out that customers will give a self-playing piano about five seconds of interest, but they will sit down, order drinks and tip the musician for playing their requests.
    "Play us a song you're the piano man"!



    ------------------------------
    Blaine Hebert RPT
    Duarte CA
    (626) 795-5170
    ------------------------------



  • 18.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-12-2023 13:54

    I think it's a marvelous technology and, like all technologies, subject to ab-use (my english professor wife is horrified as kids already use it to write their term papers).  But for the layperson who wants to understand voicing or get a synopsis of some other type of research or topic it's both quick and useful.  

    I've long gotten over being afraid of technology.  Recall what we thought (and many still think) about electronic tuning devices.  Technology is a tool and we need to be mindful of how we use it.  But there's no going back to the "good old days", if there ever was such a thing.

    Cognitive bias is real, btw, thus the adage, "don't believe everything you think".



    ------------------------------
    David Love RPT
    www.davidlovepianos.com
    davidlovepianos@comcast.net
    415 407 8320
    ------------------------------



  • 19.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-13-2023 00:48

    "Maybe this is the Piano Technicians Journal's solution to the lack of incoming articles from us."

    Fortunately, we've been getting some excellent contributions to the Journal. (AI can't give us what we currently need: Tuner's Life articles. Send some in please!)

    "Unless the teacher knows that the student is not capable of that level of writing, there really is no way to know if it was written by the student or a bot."

    I really don't see how AI can possibly be a threat to teachers, unless the teachers are REALLY lazy. Here's why:
    I've taught in several colleges, and couple of high schools. It was ridiculously easy to catch students plagiarizing or having someone (or something) write essays for them.

    At my first college job, I had to bust several students for plagiarizing. It was SOOOO easy. (And, I admit, a little fun.) For one thing, very few of the college students I've worked with could have written the type of sophisticated, compound sentences they were handing in. Let's not even talk about semicolons and other punctuation. If you're a professional tuner, you just KNOW when something wasn't done correctly to a piano. You develop a sixth sense. When you're a teacher, you develop a sixth sense for what students can write. (You also develop a highly sensitive BS meter..."

    All I had to do was ask, "What does this word mean?" They would hang their heads and come clean immediately. Like taking candy from a baby. (And I should know--if I see a baby with a Reese's Peanut Butter cup, I guarantee you, that baby is going hungry.)

    There's another, very easy way to insure that students can't cheat on essays: At the first class, give them a sheet of paper and ask them to write a short essay on something. You can even tell them why, and to use their best grammar and vocabulary.

    Keep it on file, and you've got proof that what they've turned in couldn't possibly be written by them. It's like having fingerprints or DNA on file. Students can improve, but they don't suddenly turn into sophisticated writers in a semester.

    This probably won't apply to students at elite institutions, but it will for most of the rest.

    However.....I wouldn't be surprised to see AI that is configurable: "Write me an essay on voicing at the 6th grade level, with a 4.5% rate of misspelled words." Possibly, a student could, in the future, type in an essay, which the algorithms could then parse and duplicate at the same level. If those were to happen, then forget everything I said earlier. 

    We're screwed.

    As for voicing, no I'm not worried. Unless the AI is going to come to the customer's house and start doing actual voicing.



    ------------------------------
    Scott Cole, RPT
    rvpianotuner.com
    Talent, OR
    (541-601-9033
    ------------------------------



  • 20.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-13-2023 10:35

    David went:
    But for the layperson who wants to understand voicing or get a synopsis of some other type of research or topic it's both quick and useful.

    In the meantime, there's a politician claiming an election was stolen from him, who now has proof: a 4k video of vote counters with three clearly labeled containers, one for yet-to-be-counted, then counted, and then a trash can with votes for the politician. At 4k, you can clearly read the checkmarks on the latter. And there's no providence, because AI is a black box.

    Understood, there's no such thing as dis-inventing this technology, and understood, there are harmless uses for it that we'd all approve of. But even in Blaine's benign example, there's enough to be nervous about. Like the piano tuner who thinks that an AI report on altering the texture of hammer felt can tell him all he needs to know, even before he's ever put his first needle to felt. 



    ------------------------------
    William Ballard RPT
    WBPS
    Saxtons River VT
    802-869-9107

    "Our lives contain a thousand springs
    and dies if one be gone
    Strange that a harp of a thousand strings
    should keep in tune so long."
    ...........Dr. Watts, "The Continental Harmony,1774
    +++++++++++++++++++++
    ------------------------------



  • 21.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-14-2023 14:27

    All technologies have the potential for abuse and AI does have some frightening aspects, including in the political arena.  But it's here and handwringing won't help.  

    Crispr Technology has uncomfortable potential too but it also has the potential to solve some otherwise unsolveable health problems.  

    I try not to live my life in fear.  






    ------------------------------
    David Love RPT
    www.davidlovepianos.com
    davidlovepianos@comcast.net
    415 407 8320
    ------------------------------



  • 22.  RE: Be afraid, be very afraid.

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 05-14-2023 14:52

    David Love wrote:
    "I try not to live my life in fear."

    Amen to that! 

    Alan 



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    Alan Eder, RPT
    Herb Alpert School of Music
    California Institute of the Arts
    Valencia, CA
    661.904.6483
    ------------------------------