Chess has already been this way: computers are far better than humans, yet the humans still play and learn/understand new position evaluations from the computers.
There also will never be a Mikhail Tal type of player again and most classical matches at the highest level are just draws now. I'm not sure if you could say AI is a benefit for the highest level but it is an equaliser in the sense that you don't need to pay for a tutor to analyse your mistakes (though they can still be helpful) which helps the average player. Chess is also predominantly for entertainment making it not the best example for AI not replacing people.