I am a fan of a semantic layer (I made an open source one but there are others out there), and think having AI talk to a semantic layer has potential. Though TBH a good UI over a semantic layer is so easy it makes the natural language approach moot.
The technical benefits and potentials clearly outshine the problems and challenges. That's also true in this example. You just have to let go of some principles that were helpful in the past but aren't anymore.
With technology like this, there is little reason to even know SQL anymore as the average developer. Just like today, the average developer doesn't know how databases work because the cloud takes care of it. We're moving up on the abstraction ladder and tomorrow all you need to know for SQL is to ask the right question.
The relevant question is: How many people who work with databases need to have a lot of experience with SQL? My argument is that while the answer today is "most," the answer in a couple of years might be "very few."
But my point was actually that more people think they need to know SQL today than is actually the case. Excluding people that manage databases or cases that go direct to SQL for things like complex ETL, your average business user / marketer / etc should not be asked to write SQL or have to ask someone else to write SQL for them. Use a semantic layer instead with a UI on top and it's almost as easy as natural language.
Here is a example of one I made below, but there are others out there with more support. At my company, and the last few I've worked for, we use this approach for ~all day to day querying and a chunk of backend SQL replacement.
Use this to POPULATE sql based on captured NLP "surveillance" -- for example, build a DB of things I say as my thing listens to me, and categorize things, topics, place, people etc mentioned.
Keep count of experiencing the same things....
When I say I need to "buy thing" build table of frequency for "buy thing" etc...
Effectively - query anything you've said to Alexa and be able to map behaviors/habits/people/things...
If I say - Bob's phone number is BLAH. It add's bob+# to my "random people I met today table" with a note of "we met at the dog park"
Narrate yourself into something journaled.
Makes it easy to name a trip "Hike Mount Tam" then log all that - then have it create a link in the table to the pics folder on your SpaceDrive9000.ai and then you have a full narration with links to the pics that you take.