I don't see artificial grass being necessary except for financial reasons....unless someone can tell me differently.
Water conservation. I don't think there's any reason real grass will persevere with time. Artificial turf technology is progressing at a rapid pace due to water conservation. The turfs that you all are referencing were born to a niche market. True technological advancements don't occur until there's a consumer market, and there's a consumer market in artificial turf now.
I was at a child's birthday party in Burbank this past weekend, and the parents had artificial turf for their lawn. I've been thinking about it for my lawn too, so I commented to my wife how good it looked and felt. She stared at it and stared at it and told me it was real grass. She kicked it, knelt down and felt it, and still told me I was crazy. It was artificial turf. They can make it look and feel like any type of grass these days, and the consumer market for it is still new and taking off.