I think that Boeing use very confusing terminology: "HOLD" suggests to me that some parameter is being held by the automatics, e.g. altitude, speed; not that, in fact, the auto-thrust has gone to sleep.
What Boeing actually meant was that the pilot must hold the thrust levers with their hand !!
This seems a weird way of controlling an aircraft with the autopilot flying - a sort of half and half. "I will do this bit but you have to do that bit".
And if, as I understand it, this "HOLD" mode can cause a major elephant trap such as that experienced by the B777 into KSFO where the auto-thrust stayed in HOLD - i.e. asleep - with decaying speed and crashed, then it seems to be very odd 'logic' to me - as a non B777 pilot.
(I do realise that piss-poor piloting by company management pilots was also a factor in that crash).