if the pilot is relying on an autopilot to cover a pilots lack of ability then that is asking for trouble.
Not sure you would want to test that hypothesis on say 100 randomly chosen airline pilots
Every pilot has a greater ability / safety when his workload is drastically reduced by appropriate automation. I think the % of hairy-chested hand-flying-an-NDB-hold-inside-a-CB supermen is much lower than most would suppose.