Hi Infrequent,
So you are planning to tape over any trim-in-motion bicycle bells that they stick in your Airbus cockpit because you don't want to have a clue?
The AF447 PF may have been completely clueless, but if either the PNF or Captain had tumbled to the trim position, do you really think they would have persisted in ignoring the possibility of stall? You have to give people a chance to get the information they need, even if their attention is distracted elsewhere. Stealth change in the position of a major control surface is downright hazardous.
Safetypee recently posted some interesting links. One of these is an excellent paper by Donald A. Norman titled, "THE PROBLEM OF AUTOMATION"
http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/Norman-overautomation.pdf
One of the paragraph titles sums up a key element of the problem: "THE PROBLEM IS NOT AUTOMATION, IT IS LACK OF FEEDBACK."
Do you remember the FBW pilot's favorite question? "Whats it doing now?"
That is the issue. The Airbus does not speak or gesture very effectively. How can flight crews maintain understanding of what their aircraft is up to? How do we keep the crew in the loop?