Only sometimes does the lower-case L have a tail. And even if it does, there's no way to know that unless it happens to appear in the same text as a capital "i."
But in what textual situations do you think it is important to have that clarity when the text does not have both characters? That's the situation where I think it is actually useful. If it is only one or the other, context should be sufficient.
I've attached a paragraph of text using SN Pro[2] that has copious Ls and Is of both cases. Please give it a read, I would genuinely like to know if you feel that our tails are not sufficient (not necessarily perfect, but sufficient).
[1] https://fonts.google.com/?preview.text=I%20love&stroke=Sans+...
[2] https://my.supernotes.app/share/imitate+gain+unlock+execute
In the meantime I’ll say that the ambiguous capital I is indeed rampant in sans fonts, but that’s not a reason to perpetuate it. Why have any ambiguity ever, when every schoolchild knows how to make a capital I? There is no benefit in doing so, and there are drawbacks.