They talk in quiet voices among rainbow stacks of tiny nail polish bottles. The sharp scent of solvents and adhesives hangs in the air, but neither seem to notice.

It’s been two hours already of intense concentration. Taby’s client arrived with last month’s nails already out of season, eager and excited to update the color and shape of what Taby call’s “ten tiny canvases” at the end of her fingertips. With careful precision and detailed steps, Taby has removed the loud acrylics from the soft pink keratin beneath. After cleaning and polishing her client’s natural nail beds, she’s spent the last hour applying a fresh set of acrylics with delicate strokes of glue. Dental tools come out next, sculpting and shaping each new nail to the desired arc or point. Enduring the seemingly endless pneumatic buzz and the scrape of emery boards, they are still blank.

Now, is the moment of creation. However, Taby and her client are not alone in the tight space. On the table sits Taby’s phone with ChatGPT on screen awaiting instruction.

Tabytha “Taby” Scott is a licensed nail tech. While the chemicals and tools she uses are from the world of technology, her talent with fine brushes of color and miniature sculptural elements are more akin to art. While she blushes at being called a “nail artist”, art has always been a part of Taby’s life.

“Art has always had my heart since I was a child. So I can tell you, it was after 911 happened. I was like 10 years old, and I went to school, and I drew a little US flag on all 10 of my little nails. And that's the first time I remember, I had to do something on my nails to represent a moment. And that's the first time I can remember, intentionally putting art on my nails, just on my own volition.”

Taby’s interest in nails transcends the self-satisfaction of creating something beautiful. Her passion lies in the ability to share her art with others and how it affects them personally.

“The first time that I used ChatGPT for nails, I wanted to test its limitations. I know that it understands art, I know that it understands color. So I was like, let me just see… I joke with my clients all the time and they're like, you can do anything. And I'm like, let's zone it in, let's bring it in. Sometimes they can. Sometimes I'm just not able to and having AI there to help me, we can go from an infinite amount of ideas to 10 or 20 and go from there. At that point I can go in and add my little flare, understanding what AI's given me - whether it's colors or positions, put this on this nail, this on that nail - and that way I can execute it. And ChatGPT is kinda just a partner.”

Four hours after her customer walked in the door with just a vague idea of her favorite color and the changing seasons, Taby is finished. The nails are done. Swirl of colors and the glamor on ten tiny custom canvases to uplift her client wherever she goes. Taby looks tired, but another customer is on her way. Taby’s busy, but busy is good.