I haven't been interested in AI enough to try writing code with it, but using it as an interactive rubber ducky is a very compelling use case. I might give that a shot.
Your analogy is very incomplete. No one is saying that Intel's products or technology is "moving backwards", but rather that their market share and performance as a company are declining.
Take your person "standing still" and imagine they were previously in the lead during a marathon and suddenly stopped before the finish line. They're not moving backwards, but their position in the race is dropping from first, to second, to third, and they will eventually be last if they don't start moving again.