Barbers Alarmed When Customers Start Asking for AI-Generated Haircuts

“Usually it’s got a sheen.”

Taper Expectations

Most of us are probably guilty of having unrealistic expectations for how our haircuts should look. Showing your barber a photo of David Beckham, sadly, does not mean you will strut out the shop looking like the iconic soccer champion.

That being said, bringing a photo of a real human to your hair appointment is definitely more practical than what some people are turning to now, according to stylists: AI-generated images.

Dean Allan, the owner of a beauty salon in Edmonton, Alberta tells the CBC that it’s becoming more and more common for clients to instead show him an image generated by a machine learning model.

“Usually it’s got a sheen,” Allan told the broadcaster. “It’s thicker than the average person’s hair.”

Cut Below

The saving grace, Allan said, is that most people are still able to tell that the photos aren’t real, at least for now.

But “I think they’re just gonna get better,” he told the CBC.

The expectations they create, nonetheless, can be very unrealistic in every sense.

With the ultimate goal of spitting out algorithmically perfect-looking images, AI image models make little distinction between fact and fiction, so what you’d see produced by one may not be representative of human anatomy. Expecting anime-perfect hair to complement model-perfect facial structure, simply put, is setting yourself up for disappointment.

In the face of this trend, Allan said that barbers should be upfront with customers about their expectations.

“As a hairstylist, you have to stand your ground,”  he said, per the CBC. “And if you do not feel comfortable trying to achieve what that client wants, then you need to step back and say ‘you’re not going to be happy with what I produce.'”

Misleading Mirror

This may seem relatively inconsequential compared to all the horrors that AI models could and already do cause, but bear in mind we’re just seeing the beginning of the trend.

It’s not uncommon for people to use popular AI-powered apps like FaceApp and Facetune to try out different haircuts. On the web, there are multiple AI tools that purport to do the same thing (just look up “AI hair” in a search engine to see for yourself.)

More broadly in the beauty world, companies like Google and Walmart already offer AI features that allow you to virtually try on clothes. While these are undoubtedly convenient tools for some, AI models have been criticized for perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards, so for others, they may be a source of self-torment.

To that, Allan has some advice.

“I would just really honestly say to anyone who is a hairstylist or is going to use any kind of hair inspo — whether it is AI generated or not — it’s hair inspiration… that’s all it is.”

More on AI: Woman Furious When Tattoo Artist Admits Her Half-Finished Tattoo Is AI-Generated