I got my license back in the early '70s while on a “remote” USAF tour at Galena, a small village on the Yukon in central Alaska.
Galena, having a WW-II era paved runway & VOR for year-round air access and reliable communication with the outside world via the military White Alice system, was the center of civilization between Fairbanks and Nome, but when you headed to any central Alaska village or destination outside VHF range it was strictly seat of the pants pilotage. Satellite based comm and navigation have changed all that, and in that respect flying in Alaska has become much safer.
What hasn’t changed, though, is the weather, particularly in the coastal regions, and there really isn’t much more technology can do to solve that problem. The nature of local GA flying in Alaska dictates primary reliance will be on experience & eyeball, and it’s difficult to see how “improved” regulation is going to help that.