Of course it is progress. But there are orders here: filling in the blanks is super useful and for sure you can - or should I say could - make a living with that. But there is another level above that which is where the total area is increased. That's not meant as a sleight against people that were ensuring all the ground was covered, it's just establishing the fact that there are multiple levels to knowledge.

If you want to make it seem as if I'm pissing on people that were doing useful science that's your privilege, but there is a reason we use terms like 'groundbreaking' about discoveries that are different.

As for lost careers: I've been schlepping bits my whole life, and probably an RTX 6000 could re-run that in under a year, and no doubt what I did was of less significance than that done by the lowliest of scientists. Still, I don't derive my sense of self value from what future technology can do any more than I think that a day laborer should compare themselves with a tractor or a combine.

I'm not sure of your background, but FWIW everyone in my PhD program in my elite CS program had varying levels of anguish and angst when realizing that their efforts were mostly suited for "coloring in the blanks." The PhD Grind [1] felt like a poignant capture of those feelings.

[1]: https://dokumen.pub/the-phd-grind-a-phd-student-memoir-3.htm...

You are just echoing the words of the previous commenter in this thread. For my answer, please see there to avoid repetition.