In the future it'll be less about upscaling. And more about giving the algorithm a minimalist basic 3D representation as a starting point. And then told to make it photo real. Ray tracing isn't really going anywhere. But AI radiosity is going to supplant it in many applications.

Think about it. These algorithms are already making impressive if uncanny images from Simple Text prompts. In less time than it would take most CPU GPU combinations on consumer Hardware to actually Ray trace a scene. Ray tracing will always be there when you need the accuracy. But AI radiosity is going to offer benefits most people don't even comprehend yet.

For instance once it makes its way into consumer Hardware etc. Suddenly a lot of older games will be able to have their Graphics upgraded with no recoding or tricks. Just using the input video stream as a reference.