People talk about exponential technology progress as though we fully understood the problems we're trying to solve, so advances toward those problems' solutions

People talk about exponential technology progress as though we fully understood the problems we're trying to solve, so advances toward those problems' solutions will increase at an ever increasing and noticeable rate. Unfortunately, as we advance toward the solution horizon for many of these hard problems (AI, cancer, aging, etc.) we continue to find that the horizon is at best remaining at a fixed distance. In some cases, like with cancer, the more we learn, the further away it seems a real cure will ever be. It's like trying to find your way through a maze that is actually a constantly evolving fractal. So while CRISPR/Cas9 is a magnificent discovery, it could be as though the discovery of the wheel 5,500 years ago meant that the Tesla would soon be available.