The Impact of AI on the Workforce Congressional Hearing

AI already knows a lot. That is not really the problem. The challenge is teaching it what matters to your business. It does not automatically know your customers. It does not know your tone. It does not know your standards. It does not know your process. It does not know which details are important and which ones will send your team into a group text spiral. That is where the skill comes in. Using AI well is not just about asking better questions. It is about teaching AI what you want it to know so it can give you answers that are actually useful. That is the focus of the class I am teaching through the BBB AI Hub: Teaching AI your Business: Building Context That Actually Works. We are going to talk about how to use ChatGPT settings, Projects, and Custom GPTs to give AI better business context. Not in a complicated way. In a practical way. Because most business owners do not need more AI hype. They need to understand how to make AI useful in the work they are already doing.

Most industrial organizations are not starting from zero. They are starting from systems that already work—just not in ways that scale easily. Legacy workflows often represent years of optimization under real constraints. They are imperfect, but they are functional. This is why modernization is rarely a technical problem alone—it is a continuity problem.  The goal is not to replace what works. The goal is to reduce friction while preserving operational stability.

Most industrial organizations are not starting from zero. They are starting from systems that already work—just not in ways that scale easily. Legacy workflows often represent years of optimization under real constraints. They are imperfect, but they are functional. This is why modernization is rarely a technical problem alone—it is a continuity problem. The goal is not to replace what works. The goal is to reduce friction while preserving operational stability.

Anthropic’s new Claude Fable 5 may be one of the most important AI model releases of the year, not just because of what it can do, but because of what it signals about where artificial intelligence is heading. Fable 5 is part of Anthropic’s new Mythos-class family of models, which sits above its previous Claude Opus models in capability. In plain English, this is not just a better AI model. This is a much more powerful system designed for complex work: software engineering, advanced research, long document analysis, scientific reasoning, visual understanding, and agentic workflows that can run across multiple steps. For business owners, that should get your attention. The promise of Fable 5 is significant. It can work on longer, harder, more complex assignments with greater endurance than earlier models. That means it may be useful for drafting strategic plans, reviewing large policy documents, analyzing contracts, supporting technical projects, building internal tools, developing training materials, summarizing research, or helping a team reason through complicated business decisions. This is the kind of AI that starts to feel less like an assistant and more like a high-level analyst. For small businesses, that is exciting. Many owners do not have a research department, a software team, or a strategic planning office. A model like Fable 5 could help smaller organizations access capabilities that used to be available only to large companies with deep benches of talent. That is the optimistic view. But there is another side to this release that small business owners should pay attention to: cost and access . Fable 5 is currently available in Claude for a limited time, with access expected to end on June 22, giving users a short window to experience one of Anthropic’s most advanced public models before access changes. But long term, this type of intelligence will not be cheap. Anthropic’s listed pricing for Fable 5 is reportedly $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens . For large enterprises, that may be manageable. For small businesses, nonprofits, and solo entrepreneurs, that pricing could quickly become a serious barrier. In everyday terms, this means Fable 5 may be affordable for an occasional high-value project, but expensive for constant daily use. Asking it to review one large report may cost only a few dollars. But using it all day across employees, documents, drafts, agents, and revisions could become a meaningful monthly expense very quickly. The concern is that Fable 5 is roughly double the cost of Claude Opus 4.8. That tells us something important: as models become more powerful, the best AI may not simply become cheaper. The market may split between everyday models for routine tasks and premium frontier models reserved for complex, high-value work. That may be the bigger story. For the past few years, small businesses have benefited from an incredible moment in technology: advanced AI was suddenly available through relatively affordable monthly subscriptions. A local business owner could access tools that felt almost magical for the price of a software subscription. That created a sense that increasingly powerful AI would always become cheaper and more accessible. Fable 5 raises a different possibility. What if the most powerful models become premium tools that only larger organizations can afford to use regularly? What if small businesses get access to “good enough” AI, while major corporations use the most advanced models for strategy, automation, coding, research, product development, and decision-making? That would be a major shift. Instead of AI closing the gap between small and large businesses, it could begin widening it again. Larger companies would have access to better reasoning, better automation, better agents, and better strategic support. Smaller firms might be forced to ration use, rely on cheaper models, or avoid advanced workflows because the cost is too unpredictable. This does not mean small businesses should ignore Fable 5. Quite the opposite. If you have access to it, test it. Use it on high-value work where quality really matters. Ask it to analyze a strategic plan, compare vendors, review a complicated proposal, summarize a large report, or help think through a major decision. Do not waste a model like this on routine emails or simple brainstorming. Use your most powerful AI where the return justifies the cost. There are also safety considerations. Anthropic has emphasized that Fable 5 includes safeguards around high-risk topics such as cybersecurity, biology, and chemistry. That matters because as AI becomes more capable, the risk of misuse also grows. Businesses should appreciate that the industry is taking safety seriously. But safety systems can also affect usefulness, especially when models become more cautious or restricted in certain areas. So where does this leave small businesses? The best approach is strategic adoption. Start by understanding which AI tasks are truly valuable for your organization. Use lower-cost models for routine work. Reserve frontier models like Fable 5 for complex, high-value projects. Train your team to understand when powerful AI is needed and when it is not. Track cost. Protect sensitive data. Keep humans involved in final decisions. Claude Fable 5 gives us a glimpse of the next era of AI: more powerful, more autonomous, more capable — and likely more expensive. That does not mean small businesses are out of the race. But it does mean they need to become smarter buyers and better managers of AI. The future of AI may not simply be about who has access to the best model. It may be about who knows when to use it, how to use it, and whether the value justifies the cost. That is the real AI Advantage. About the Author Jonathan Liebert is CEO/Executive Director of the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, an AI thought leader and an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He is the author of Thought Partner , which explores how leaders can collaborate with AI to improve decision-making and strategy. Jonathan also leads AI education and training programs through BBB of Southern Colorado to help businesses build practical AI skills for the modern marketplace.

Why OpenAI’s New Warning Matters for Small Business

Teaching for Tomorrow: Closing the expectations gap What happens when teachers are asked to do the impossible? New research from the Walton Family Foundation and Gallup examines how teachers experience their job demands. The Teaching for Tomorrow study reveals just how much unrealistic expectations and lack of role clarity impact key outcomes like job satisfaction and intention to remain in the classroom. While the research finds that many teachers face unrealistic or unclear expectations, it also confirms that with improved job expectations, teachers thrive.

AI is a powerful tool - but when it comes to values, people and consequences, human judgement still matters.

One of the best places to begin your AI journey — or refresh what you already know — is the Everyday AI podcast’s Start Here Series . This resource does a great job breaking down the basics of artificial intelligence in a way that is clear, practical, and easy to understand. Whether you are just getting started, trying to fill in the gaps, or looking for a simple way to stay current with how AI is changing work and business, this series is a helpful guide. It takes complex ideas and makes them accessible, giving listeners a strong foundation for understanding how AI tools can be used thoughtfully and effectively.  For small business owners, nonprofit leaders, and professionals who want to better understand AI without getting overwhelmed, this is a great place to start!