The 31-year-old has been tattooing for the past six years and opened Bleeding Hearts Tattoo Studio with her partner, Matthew, in February 2024.
ChatGPT and other AI software can instantly generate images for free from prompts and Natasha says this is already causing issues for her industry.
“Tattoo studios have faced many challenges over the years, along with other small businesses but AI is really changing the creative sector,” she said.
“We are finding that when clients bring in AI designs, some can’t tell the difference between an AI-generated image and a real one.
“Most of the AI designs come from ChatGPT or Pinterest. The problem with these images is some of them are too detailed for the placement they want, and they won’t fade well.”
On Pinterest, users can browse both AI and real images when looking for designs.
Natasha said people often arrived with AI images showing detailed designs on fingers that are virtually impossible to replicate in the real world due to the small surface area.
“In some cases, customers get annoyed and irate when we tell them we can’t do these designs or highlight that these aren’t real pictures – and that’s upsetting,” she said.