Robot Deals Tone-Deaf Blackjack at CES in Las Vegas

• Sharpa’s humanoid robot North wowed CES attendees with its blackjack dealing but sparked a backlash on social media
• Critics blasted the demo as tone‑deaf in a city dependent on human card dealers
• Others mocked North’s extremely slow dealing speed

Sharpa evoked the awe it intended to at the CES convention this week with its card-dealing robot, North. But the smiling techies who surrounded the Singapore robotics company’s blackjack table weren’t the only ones with a reaction.

Once videos of the session made the social media rounds, the comments were split mostly between anger about the thousands of real human beings that Sharpa is attempting to displace at the casino tables, and mockery over how painfully slow North currently moves.

North is a full‑body humanoid robot with hands that can — thanks to thousands of tactile sensors per fingertip — detect force changes as small as 0.005 newtons, according to Sharpa.

North also demonstrated its human-like dexterity at CES by stacking grocery shelves, building a paper windmill and playing ping-pong. But it was its blackjack chops that stole the entire convention. Attendees were able to play a mock hand at Sharpa’s Autonomous Blackjack table, interacting with North and watching it make decisions in real time.

Check out the video from DRM News: 

Sharpa’s global VP, Alicia Veneziani, framed the blackjack demo as a nod to CES’ host city: “We’re in Vegas, so we wanted something that resonates with the mood of CES,” she said in the video.

Aces High, Awareness Low

What Sharpa apparently didn’t consider was how tone-deaf it is to showcase automated blackjack in a city where 5,000-6,000 people depend on the human-dealt version to pay their rent or mortgage.

The optics are especially bad considering that the the company’s own website describes North’s purpose as “freeing people from repetitive work and giving them back time for higher-value pursuits.”

So casino dealing is “lower‑value”?

Instagram users didn’t hold back:

• @kaniekastroll: “Every casino dealer should UNIONIZE NOW… AI is a job‑killer in all industries!”
• @ericchine: “STOP trying to eliminate human interaction and taking people’s jobs just to save a dollar.”
• @skywalker7778: “Why would humans build machines that replace themselves? World gone mad.”

Others focused on North’s glacial pace:

• @joeystonks: “Casinos want speed. This robot needs a Red Bull.”
• @chillguygus: “Looks like my job is safe.”

And then came the bleakest — and probably most accurate — take:

• @heffa47: “By the time the robot is ready there won’t be any hand‑dealt games in the casino.”