Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how people decide what to permanently put on their bodies.
Many tattoo artists also rely on reference material as they work, particularly when making extremely detailed and realistic designs.
“This is also edited with AI. But this is my tattoo. It’s not going to look like my reference exactly. Because I want that to look more realistic on the skin than on the photo itself,” said Brigi Fuzes, a Hungarian tattoo artist who has used AI to create reference images and believes AI can be an important tool for artists.
“That’s something you do from your head. You can’t do that with photos all the time.”
Fuzes says around 70% of her customers now arrive with AI-generated images.
AI-generated images do not necessarily account for how light, shadow and fine details need to be adapted for tattooing, according to Fuzes, who has a background in fine art.
Extremely fine details that look convincing in a generated image may also fail to translate well into ink or remain clear as a tattoo ages.
“They think that’s something possible on the skin. Like way too detailed. It might not stay in,” Fuzes said.
“Don’t get me wrong, I do love details and my work is known for details, but at the same time, you want to make it right so it’s going to last forever.”
‘AI as another design tool’
Edinburgh-based tattoo artist David Corden sees AI as the latest addition to tools artists were already using.
He previously used software such as Photoshop to build detailed reference images. AI can now help him improve old or blurry photographs, including pictures of deceased relatives that customers want tattooed.
However, he is frustrated by the growing assumption that highly detailed digital artwork must be AI-generated.
“You see videos come up on Instagram and somebody’s zooming in on an iPad that an artist is working from going, ‘Oh, AI image.’ No it’s not,” he said.
“Some artists are better than you can possibly imagine.”
Some tattoo artists still keep AI out of their creative process.
Tiago Miranda of Disturbia Ink creates his dark horror designs from his own imagination.
Unlike many tattoo artists, he does not use a reference photo to produce his work, and it all comes from the moment and the hundreds of pencil sketches he makes in his books.
Tattoo artist Ellie Diamond is also wary of AI, although she increasingly sees customers arrive with images they have generated themselves.
“If somebody brings us an idea and they’re like, ‘I’ve mocked this up,’ I’m like, ‘Okay, well, we can take that, but I’m going to draw you something much better than a computer can,'” she said.
“Most of the time the best tattoos come out of somebody just saying, ‘Here’s my idea, I love your work, you do your thing with this idea.'”
Can AI replace the tattoo artist?
The debate comes as tattooing has become increasingly mainstream in Europe.
A 2026 study found that 29% of adults in Sweden aged 20 to 68 have at least one tattoo, while a 2025 study involving more than 111,000 adults in France found that 11.5% were tattooed.
Veteran tattoo artist Dan Gold does not expect AI to take over his job. His bigger concern is how generative AI systems obtain the material used to train them.
“There ought to be some kind of AI tax or something like that,” he said, “because they are using all of this data for free.”
Diamond is also unconvinced that machines can replace the human appeal of tattooing.
“There’s obviously something very innate and human about it,” she said. “So I’m not worried that the machines are going to take over.”
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Video editor • Roselyne Min
Additional sources • AP