It makes me think about what we really look for in concerts. It’s not about the show: we prefer imperfect execution to perfect playback. We often read about singers caught lip-syncing and, generally speaking, faking a live performance is considered insulting to the fans. Famously, Nirvana butchered Smells Like Teen Spirit live on Top of the Pops because they didn’t allow them to play the instruments live.
Going to a concert is all about marvelling at the performer’s ability pushed to the limits, and these musicians with a disability do exactly that. That piano adds the missing notes, but it stops when the musician makes a mistake. In other words, if you can’t play, it doesn’t help you.
I’m sure this will open the debate about AI-enhanced humans just like we debated about Pistorius’ “unfair advantage”. A German team reported that Pistorius used 25% less energy than natural runners since the artificial legs perform better than natural legs.