I think there's a problem with people wanting a fully developed brand new technology right out the gate. The cell phones of today didn't happen overnight, it started with a technology that had limitations and people innovated.

AI is a technology that has limitations, people will innovate it. Hopefully.

I think my favorite potential use case for AI is academics. There are countless numbers of journal articles that get published by students, grad students and professors, and the vast majority of those articles don't make an impact. Very few people read them, and they get forgotten. Vast amounts of data, hypotheses and results that might be relevant to someone trying to do something good, important or novel but they will never be discovered by them. AI can help with this.

Of course there's going to be problems that come up. Change isn't good for everyone involved, but we have to hope that there is a net good at the end. I'm sure whoever was invested in the telegram was pretty choked when the phone showed up, and whoever was invested in the carrier pigeon was upset when the telegram showed up. People will adapt, and society will benefit. To think otherwise is the cynical take on the same subject. The glass is both half full and half empty. You get to choose your perspective on it.