Weak take. No one's saying, "Need a Calculator? Nah, just use ChatGPT!". That's how you flounder in local optima.

This is just line of inquiry that's a part of any research. The Wright Brother weren't solving "real" problems like passenger transport or mail delivery initially. They had better solutions. It was to see if they could get the thing to fly.

edit: Before it comes up, I'm not saying it was for lulz. I'm sure they had commercial considerations. Just that those problems had "right tools for the job" for a good while.