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Each year, some of Americas greatest artists, thinkers, and business leaders have a chance to come together at SXSW in the spirit of creativity, innovation, and future-building. And with everything currently happening in technology and the workforce, this years gathering feels particularly timely. Of course, questions around AI will take center stage and remain our primary cultural fixation: How long until the next incredible breakthrough? Should Americans be fearful about an impending AI apocalypse or hopeful about the prospect of unlimited productivity gains? These topics are all valid, urgent, and deeply worthwhile to explore, but I also believe the most important workforce story unfolding in the U.S. today is less about what AI will do next, and more about what everyday Americans are doing right now in response to and in preparation for AIs growing impacts. If technological advancement is going to keep accelerating faster than our institutions can or are willing to adapt, the fact that workers have already begun adapting on their own in real time is a story of deep-rooted resilience within our culture and communities. It is also a story that seems to be signaling a pragmatic and optimistic reimagining of the American Dream. WORKFORCE DISRUPTION IS WELL UNDERWAY The speed of AI advancement is likely to continue to be astonishing. Although we can neither predict nor control the pace of innovation, we can acknowledge that AI is no longer a hypothetical but an economic force reshaping job security, hiring, and career planning. We also need to understand that while AI adoption has added pressure, workforce fragility in the U.S. was deepening long before generative models like ChatGPT entered the picture. Education costs have been compounding at an unhealthy rate in America for nearly half a century, with rising tuition costs significantly outpacing inflation since the 1980s. Meanwhile, the countrys student debt crisis also continues deepening, with total student loan debt in the U.S. exceeding $1.7 trillion in 2024, all while broader confidence in traditional education and career pathways has been gradually eroding. AI isnt causing workforce uncertainty but merely adding weight on top of existing cracks in the system. To focus solely on predicting the pace and extent of AI-driven job loss misses the real story: U.S. workers are already adapting, and its a process involving a bold reimagining of American values and stability. AMERICANS ARE CHOOSING DURABILITY Despite so much uncertainty, Americans dont appear to be giving in to fear as much as theyre leaning into resilience and practical decision-making. There are some strong cultural signals indicating a radical shift in the U.S. workforces strategic mindset, particularly in evolving views around traditional education and career pathways in this AI age. More specifically, a new survey of American workers we conducted at the Business For Good Foundation via the Harris Poll revealed a clear and widespread departure from most conventional ways of thinking about professional and economic fulfillment. For example, 75% of Americans shared that their views of a good job does not look the same now as five years ago, while 80% agreed more people are choosing trade training over four-year degree programs. Similarly, more than 78% said they believe long-lasting social and cultural stigmas around blue-collar work are beginning to dissipate in the U.S., with 76% saying they believe trade jobs are less likely to be replaced by AI. Rather than fearing widespread job loss and sustained unemployment, Americans are envisioning a future workforce defined by durability, where the workforces economic value is concentrated less in white-collar sectors and more by the durable, hands-on skills that have always played an indispensable role. It suggests an overall mood of pragmatic optimism, with Americans appearing to adjust to AI adoption much faster than our political and educational systems. GET AHEAD OF CHANGE While everyday Americans seem eager to get ahead of AIs inevitable changes, this likely wont happen at scale without the appropriate support from organizations and U.S. business leaders. Recognizing this heightened need for more hands-on programs to increase access to skilled trade training, we at the Business for Good Foundation committed $100,000 to advancing workforce development in the first half of 2026. Of course, this will also require strategy and coordination, grounded in shared recognition that this shift away from traditional white-collar pathways is not an error but a process of economic regeneration. The growing emphasis on hands-on trades is not nostalgia, but necessary to strengthen the U.S. innovation infrastructure. Skilled work continues to underpin all non-negotiable aspects of American society, including access to housing and healthcare. At the same time, U.S. business owners are grappling with critical, pre-existing skilled labor shortages, meaning theyll increasingly need to depend on talent pipelines beyond traditional degree models. One recent example of what weve done at the Business for Good Foundation is a New York Capital Region pilot. As part of our commitment to workforce development, the foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to the Social Enterprise and Training (SEAT) Center to expand trade skills programming in the region and help bridge the gap between untapped talent and industry demand. Ive seen firsthand that simple, practical investments like in the SEAT Centerthose that better align workforce pathways with employer needs and expand access to education and career opportunities for motivated talent in underserved communitiescan go a long way toward creating a real and sustainable path to upward economic mobility. Im encouraging leaders across the country to take similar action, at any scale. However, such a model will largely remain limited without other like-minded business leaders and philanthropists willing to build on and replicate it at scale, and who are prepared to fully embrace a new American dream defined less by credentials and more by individual capabilities, determination, and human resilience. While this kind of change certainly wont happen overnight, I hope that those of us who attend SXSW this week might begin aligning our business priorities with the unique spirit of this event, working together to intentionally build a brighter, more prosperous, and innovative future for the U.S. workforce. Ed Mitzen is cofounder of Business for Good Foundation.
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E-Commerce
Apples iOS 26 for iPhone got off to a rough start when it was finally released to the public in September of last year. Its new Liquid Glass design language remained unpolished in many areas, and the operating system harbored a fair amount of bugs. But since iOS 26.0 debuted, Apple has released three major updates for it, further polishing the interface and adding new features. And soon, Apple will update iOS 26 once again with the release of iOS 26.4. Its a release that is set to not just eliminate bugs and enhance the details of Liquid Glass, but is also set to add some significant new features to your iPhone. Heres whats coming, and when you can get iOS 26.4. What new features are coming to iOS 26.4? Apple has been beta testing iOS 26.4 since last month. Originally, the software update was rumored to include the companys revamped Siri, powered by Googles Gemini LLM. However, Siris AI revamp has been absent from all iOS 26.4 betas to date, so it looks like a truly useful Apple digital assistant is still a ways away. But that doesnt mean iOS 26.4 doesnt have any new features. Quite the contrary. Besides your normal user interface polishes and bug fixes, iOS 26.4 is set to include some major upgrades to its media apps, notes 9to5Mac. Those upgrades include: AI-powered music playlist creation: iOS 26.4 will add a feature to the Music app called Playlist Playground. The feature allows you to generate music playlists from natural-language text descriptions. So you could instruct the Playlist Playground feature to make a playlist of 80s rock ballads under five minutes long, and the Music app will generate a playlist based on your prompt. Podcasts app video overhaul: Apples Podcasts app has supported video podcasts for some time. But in iOS 26.4, its video capabilities are getting a major upgrade. Now you can quickly switch between the audio and video versions of a podcast. This feature will be great for those times when you are watching a video podcast, but then suddenly need to be on the movesoon youll be able to easily switch to the audio version of the podcast, ensuring you can still enjoy it when your eyes are needed on other things. Redesigned album and playlist interface: Also in the Music app, Apple has redesigned the look of the interface that you see when displaying playlists or albums in full screen. In iOS 26.4, the Music app will now tint the entire screen based on the album art color scheme, giving each playlist and album its own unique look. And thats not all: iOS 26.4 will add numerous small refinements and additions across the operating system, including new emojis, new Ambient Music widgets for your Home Screen, automatic activation of Stolen Device Protection, and more. iOS 26.4 beta: Download it now While Apple hasnt released iOS 26.4 to the general public yet, it has released four betas of the software to developers and public beta testers. And if you are in any of those two groups, you can download the latest beta of iOS 26.4 onto your iPhone today. To download the developer beta, youll need to be a member of the Apple Developer Program. If youre not a developer, but still want to try out the new software early, you can join the Apple Beta Software Program for free and get access to public betasincluding the iOS 26.4 betatoday. Of course, the usual warning applies: betas are buggy, and in rare cases, they can cause data loss or otherwise harm your phone. So always proceed with caution if you decide to download a beta. iOS 26.4 final release: Download it later this month If a beta isnt your thing, youll have to wait until Apple releases the final version of iOS 26.4 to the public. Thankfully, you probably wont have to wait too much longer. Apple generally has a 5-6 beta development cycle for iOS point upgrades like iOS 26.4. Apple released the first iOS 26.4 beta in mid-February, which means the final public version of the beta is highly likely to be released between mid-March and the end of the month. Once Apple releases the final version of the software, youll be able to download iOS 26.4 right to your iPhone using the devices Software Update feature in the Settings app.
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E-Commerce
OpenAI confirmed on March 6 that it is delaying the rollout of adult mode in ChatGPT, a feature that would give verified adults access to less-restricted content. The company first announced plans to begin age-gating users last year but has now pushed back the launch twice. Segregating adult users from minors could help in some of OpenAIs legal and revenue challenges, but nailing the technology may not be easy. Adult mode had been expected this quarter and still is, just later than originally planned. OpenAI referred Fast Company to a comment it gave to Alex Heaths Sources newsletter saying it was pausing the feature to focus on improvements to ChatGPT, including gains in intelligence, personality improvements, personalization, and making the experience more proactive. (It also told Axios it needs more time. We still believe in the principle of treating adults like adults, but getting the experience right will take more time, the company said.) OpenAI first hinted at the feature last October in an X post from CEO Sam Altman responding to questions about ChatGPTs safety for underage users. As we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our treat adult users like adults principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults, Altman wrote. Adult mode depends on OpenAIs new age-prediction and verification system, a homegrown AI model that estimates a users age based on prompts and media generated with tools like Sora. OpenAI said in January it had begun rolling out the technology globally within ChatGPT. When the system detects a user may be underage, it restricts things like violent content and romantic role-play. The company also uses a third-party verification platform called Persona, which allows users to confirm their age if the AI system places them in the wrong category. But accurate age prediction and verification isnt easy, and using it to age-gate chatbot users is a relatively new idea. How, for instance, can an AI model distinguish between a 16-year-old in high school and a 19-year-old in college when the two talk to ChatGPT about similar things? “You can imagine . . . if you input anything that looks like a homework question, ChatGPT flags you as a minor, and then you’re automatically in the minor bucket, says Alissa Cooper, executive director of the Knight-Georgetown Institute, a tech policy group. That would pretty seriously constrain the service for college students or people who might just happen to have asked a question that looks like a homework question.” Naturally, some younger users will try to trick the age-prediction model into thinking theyre adults. There’s not really a way to prevent circumvention regardless of the architecture or the system design, Cooper says. So there’s this balance between locking things down to try to prevent circumvention, and allowing a full-featured experience for users who are age appropriate for whatever that experience is meant to be. One of Coopers main concerns is that the world outside OpenAI wont know how well the system is performing. And, so far at least, OpenAI isnt sharing much information about its system. I think it’s correct to be skeptical, Cooper says, adding that she believes companies should provide enough transparency about how their age-verification systems are tested so that independent experts can evaluate whether they actually work and examine the data used to estimate the ages of potentially hundreds of millions of users. OpenAI was put on notice last year when it was twice sued by people claiming that earlier versions of ChatGPT had led an adolescent loved one toward suicide. This set the stage for the company first applying more guardrails to its models for all users, then attempting to cordon off a safe experience for younger users. With younger users safely segregated, OpenAI could loosen or remove some content restrictions for adult users, the thinking goes. That adult mode could become a real selling point, and right now ChatGPT could use one. ChatGPT, which has 800 million weekly active users, once faced little real competition among AI chatbots. ChatGPT still has the most users, but competition has heated up with Googles improvement of its Gemini chatbot, and with Anthropics Claude gaining more mainstream name recognition. Not only is OpenAI under pressure to fend off those rivals, but its also under pressure to increase revenue from the chatbot to help offset the massive expenditures it plans to make in new data centers over the next five years. Signing up millions of new adult users to that experience would not only increase OpenAIs subscription revenues, but it could mean millions more highly engaged eyeballs to look at advertisements (the company said in January itll soon start showing ads to some of its U.S. users). So I think it’s segmentation of the user base in multiple directions, says Cooper. Its keeping minors away from experiences that nobody wants them to have, but also being able to offer adults experiences that are truly adult-oriented that some adults want to have.
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E-Commerce
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