The problem is we got autonomous cars backwards. We needed multimodal GPT first. GPT-4 can look at a picture can tell you what's happening very clearly. Now, chain this together really fast and you have something that could be used for driving. I'm making no bets on when the hardware/models will be fast/cheap/power efficient enough to support this.
>but it's not changing the world
Eh, no, it is changed the world in a vast number of ways, but not spread very equally. On the scientific/AI side a whole bunch of "20 years away" and "We may never accomplish" have been changed to "now". On the language side things GPT has put any translation service on notice. Summerizers too.
I've never been a crypto fan. I believe there are purposes for it, but at the same time I have a bank that does all the same things.
What I do (did?) not have is an AI that actually solve real life problems that I run into now, and that's something that is both highly useful, and something that many people are willing to pay for.