Who needs a steam car? Did you know that for a period in the 1830s, everyone thought that steam motor coaches would be the future of personal transportation? How's Zuckerberg's Metaverse coming along?

The victors write the history, and so you have a history of victories that appear inevitable in hindsight. This applies to the history of science and technology as well, which helps sustain the illusion that every new thing will "revolutionize" the world. For every "revolutionary" advance in technology, 100 pieces of junk are thrown into the dustbin of history, never to be reported on again. What makes you so sure that AI is any more "revolutionary" than the metaverse?