Hinting was originally created for fonts that had zero anti-aliasing. On Windows, prior to Cleartype, all fonts were rendered in binary, so it was even more important to have hinting there (eg so that the two stems of an 'H' are equal width, or the distance between the two symmetrical parts of an 'm' are equal size).

As screen resolutions rise, the need for hinting diminishes. On a 4K desktop monitor you still benefit from hinting. I think 8K desktop monitor resolution (at say 28 inch size) is probably where hinting loses relevance.