Can someone tell me the point of phillips head screws instead of regular screws?

They are nicer to look at and centering the driver is a piece of cake.

Ease of installation on Cadillac in 1937. . . . https://jalopnik.com/when-cadillac-helped-revolutionize-screwing-5913060

Flat heads, Phiilips and now star bit. Its basically all about not stripping it out. More sides of the bit hiting the screw.

What @KNOWITALL said. Flat heads are just about obsolete. Though I will say they’re getting crazy with the different kinds now a day.

Phillips was invented to make it harder for the screwdriver to slip out and to make it easier to use with power tools.

I think that you can get more torque on a Phillips head screw than a flathead screw.

Nevertheless, isn’t a generic screwdriver still a flathead unless otherwise (i.e., Phillips) specified?

Well, they are simply the upgraded version of flat heads. They’re better in terms of ease of use. With flat heads screws, the driver tip tends to slip off of the screws when using too much torque, which could cause an injury to the hands. Even I suffered one when trying to fix kitchen door hinges.

But with phillips head screws, the driver tip stays in it’s place in the center and won’t slip off. This enables us to use motorized drivers for them and same would’ve been difficult with normal flat head screws as the driver would slip off.

With a flat head screw driver, all the force being applied is in only two spots. A Phillips head (or a cross head) screwdriver spreads that force out to 4 spots making it more efficient for converting the work of the hand into the turn of the screw.

High torque needs in machines and faster automating ways of tightening is what drove phillips head use versus flat.
Phillips screw heads allow a tighter fit than a flat head screw, which is why most factories and handymen use them. This allows the screws to be lighter weight and relatively small. Machine tightening devices also drove their use.
This is the same principle behind the now greater use or torx head.