PJ - it was not really 'facetious' but a genuine caution against DW's suggestion of putting the a/c straight into Direct when things go awry - it just would not fit with AB OR the airlines psychology, although to a non-AB pilot it seems like a damn fine idea right now.. It is the last phrase of your first sentence that is correct - the 'way'. I LOVE automation - having 'grown up' from an alt hold /wings level A/Plt, work out the drift with Doppler and find the Canary Islands with DR, I progressed to the 737NG. Life became so easy. I had to force myself to throw in a visual arrival here and there, however, rather than let the LNAV/AP take me round an ILS. Loving it does not mean I wish to hand over FLYING to it. How would an AB operator take to crews flying a detail in Direct (however that could be done?) just for 'practice'?
"paradigm-shift" - indeed. My opinions on the training for these systems and the views of management, insurers and accountants have been expressed elsewhere and do not need repeating. If this turns out to be 228 pax dead because the 'automation' confused the hell out of the crew, that would be a crime, whether it be due to inadequate training or 'unexpected' software loops.