It’s interesting, we get a lot of the “don’t rely on the automatics”, comments, which I agree with.
However, I have just converted onto the 737 after flying the Airbus 320/330, and I have to say, the autothrottle and automatic flight system of the 737 classic is awful, compared to the Airbus FBW. So I wonder how many of the “don’t rely” comments are really saying, ‘this particular aircraft type has very marginal automatics, so you have to watch them like a hawk’?
Any pilot should obviously monitor what the aircraft autopilot and autothrust/throttle are doing at all times - hopefully that goes without saying. But some automatic systems are much poorer than others in their operation and interface with the human pilot.
For example, pilots who are used to moving thrust levers often say that having non moving thrust levers is a bad thing, yet we see these problems with failed clutches or misunderstood autothrottle modes that I have never seen in 12 years of Airbus FBW flying.