Inside the AI Tattoo Craze: Why Artists Fear for Their Future Amid a Digital Takeover
Ever wondered if artificial intelligence might be the unexpected frenemy of tattoo artists? Lal Hardy, a veteran who’s been inkin’ skin for 47 years, reckons AI is making his craft trickier than ever—by feeding folks these wildly unrealistic ideas about what can actually become a tattoo. Imagine sitting in the chair, all pumped for a masterpiece, only to find out that your AI-generated dream design might look more like a digital mirage than real-life art on flesh. It’s not just the rise of mobile phones interrupting the vibe—AI image generators like ChatGPT are flooding studios with designs that even seasoned pros have to gently burst the bubble on. Lal’s seen it all, from six-fingered Poseidons to birds disappearing into the ether, and he’s not shy about telling it like it is: just because a robot dreams it up doesn’t mean it’ll hold water—or ink—on your skin. Dive in as we explore how this blend of tech and tradition is stirring up the tattoo world, and why Lal still believes in the irreplaceable magic of a real artist’s touch. LEARN MORE
A veteran tattoo artist has explained how AI is making his job tougher by giving people a completely ‘unrealistic’ impression of what can be tattooed.
Lal Hardy has been in the game for 47 years and has seen a lot of changes, with people reaching for their mobile phones while in the chair proving to be an annoying new development.
Another technological advancement providing challenges is the rise of artificial intelligence.
With the likes of ChatGPT allowing absolutely anyone to create images with a few clicks and a simple prompt, he has seen an increase in people coming to his studio with AI-generated ideas.
However, he has warned anyone using such images that tattoos made by AI won’t necessarily turn out the same way in real life.
The trouble AI is causing for tattoo artists
AI has impacted artists (IMG visuals characters)
Hardy can’t keep track of the number of tattoos he’s done over the decades.
He’s seen everything there is to see, at least he thought he had until AI came along.
While Lal admits AI can be useful if a client wants to show an artist a rough idea of what they’re after, he has bemoaned the way it has given people impossible ideas of what can actually work as a tattoo.
“AI makes people have a totally unrealistic expectation of what is possible as a tattoo,” Lal told LADbible ahead of the Big London Tattoo Show, September 04-06 in London.
“When people bring AI stuff in, quite often we have to say to them, look, the expectation that you’ve got is unrealistic.”
Hardy, who has tattooed over 100 Premier League footballers during his career, has warned people using AI that what a robot has drawn up might not actually look right at all on the skin.
“Sometimes it’s just not going to work the way that the AI image is showing,” he added.
Lal Hardy tattooing Jermaine Defoe (Lal Hardy)
“[We have to] try and help people understand what is attainable and what’s not.”
That’s even if the AI image hasn’t made an obvious mistake to begin with, which Hardy has had to point out to several clients.
He continued: “Somebody came with an AI picture of a bird on the neck and we had to point out to them that the AI was stretching off into the ether.
“It’s not going to work.
“I saw one the other day, a whole hand covered in tattoos, all the fingers and everything.
“There’s a classic video going around at the moment of a guy who’s done The Creation of Adam and it’s got six fingers on one of the hands. I’ve seen it on another one of Poseidon, six fingers.
“The human mind often looks at things and doesn’t see mistakes.”
Lal doesn’t think AI will be stopped at this point, but does believe customers still value seeing the artist create the tattoo with their own skill and imagination, rather than it being conjured by a machine.
“If somebody can come in your shop and actually see somebody draw something, or they create a one-off piece for them, I think they’re much more appreciative of seeing an artist do that than clicking it straight up on AI,” he added.
The tattoos Hardy will never do
Hardy has tattooed around 100 footballers, including Kyle Walker (Lal Hardy)
Hardy has seen all manner of tattoos during his long career. People were even asking for the Hawk Tuah girl at one point.
He does have strict lines he won’t cross, which includes doing tattoos on the face despite having 90 percent of his own body covered in ink.
“We don’t do facial tattooing at the shop,” he said. “Just a personal choice not to do it.
“I think it’s just because of the era that I sort of did my learning in tattooing, it was really frowned upon. It wasn’t seen as being something that you would do. And I’ve just had that in my shop, a policy never to do facial tattooing.
It’s acceptable now, loads of people do it, but I just feel it’s still something I don’t want to do. I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it.”
That’s not all he won’t do, either.
Hardy continued: “We don’t do political, we don’t do political tattoos. We don’t do what we call racist tattoos. We don’t do any swastikas of any sort. Um, you know, we don’t be don’t do anything controversial.”
The last type of tat Lal always avoids are ones celebrating a trophy triumph for a sport team before the trophy has actually been won.
One England fan had to add ‘only joking’ to his tattoo proclaiming the Three Lions as 2026 World Cup champions after getting it done on his calf after the last 32 win over DR Congo.
“I never draw any designs for winning anything until afterwards,” Hardy explained. “I always fear that you might be cursing it.”
His fear was clearly well-placed.
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