And the progress humanity made in the last 100 years alone... some things end up to be completely world-changing because they enable things that only were an unfeasible dream before. The invention of the printing press, sanitation, vaccines , computers, the Internet certainly are such enabler technologies.

With AI, the question is still open if this will actually turn out to be something useful or if it will in the end just be another way for the elites to make untold profits.

Even in directed processes the low hanging fruit is harvested first.

Then you have to climb to another branch to get more fruit. The biggest issue with most problem space discovery is you're doing it blindfolded.