If you study the Numenta algorithm, you will see that the prediction is not only for the next steep and that the prediction, is forward feed to another layer where it becomes the input of a more general and stable prediction.

Also, there is strong evidence that prediction is the main (if not the only) function of the brain. I would recommend Hohwy's book (https://books.google.fr/books/about/The_Predictive_Mind.html...) for an explanation of this idea.