Sicklerville, New Jersey - Many body artists across the US and the world are coming out against AI tools that are being used to design tattoos.

Tattoo artists recently told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) about the difficulties and frustrations they have when asked to ink AI-generated designs into the skin of their clients.

Apart from the fact that an AI tattoo "doesn't have a soul," tattooists are concerned that the designs are going to have an impact on their businesses, taking away the human element in something inherently personal.

"You’re essentially cheating," Matt Doherty, a 41-year-old tattooist from Sicklerville told the WSJ.

"It’s like doing sports on steroids," he added.

Ziggy Tramdaks, who runs a tattoo parlor in Derby, UK, is particularly concerned about how AI could potentially remove the humanity in a tattooing.

"It just outperforms people," he said. "AI will take over this industry whether we want it to or not... you can swim against the river or learn."

Others say it's not all bad. Robert Deans told the WSJ that he had used OpenAI's ChatGPT to design a custom sleeve instead of drawing it himself.

The tattoo, featuring four mythological Greek characters, was far too complicated for Dean to draw by hand. With the help of Tramdaks, it ended up exactly how he wanted it.

"People are genuinely gobsmacked by the detail and how realistic it looks," he said.