You aren't wrong that these functions don't NEED NPU. But it helps with performance and offloading. What they also doing is opening APIs for software developers to use NPU and built-in models. For example, Adobe and Zoom use it for background filters. Again, with no CPU/GPU load.

And for your final point - this is not anything new for a company to try selling you a product that you don't necessarily need. Their job is to make it attractive enough for you to upgrade.