During the course of even the most routine flights a crew will use different levels of automation in different ways to accomplish different goals. Right down to turning it off completely if it isn't doing the job in a dynamic situation. An indication of how well a pilot understands the aircraft is when they know what level is appropriate at any given time, and can anticipate what level will be required in the immediate future. That takes judgement, knowledge and experience.
Some things you just can't program into a computer.