AZR
"Where exactly did the Airbus A330 of AF447 tell the pilot what to do?"
As BOAC, Lyman and Wingman have alluded to, and wp no doubt to your primary contention that the pilots weren't listening to the A330 telling them that it was stalled(!), the A330 repeatedly told the pilots it was no longer stalled (and at a critical point for stall recovery at FLT 350 as the CDB re-entered the cockpit).........
Lyman
"Although the problem ultimately, is a design that requires a degradation of human skills"
I think that is going a little far, even if there is considerable concern expressed as to what has happened in practice over the past 30 years. There is nothing in the underlying design philosophy itself to preclude pilots from honing their flying skills on light aircraft, line flying by-hand within the flight protection envelope or spending additional time in the simulator. I liked the Wingman's description of Airbus (and the B777 and B787, hence not Boeing v Airbus?) as "airmanship plus", of which the late great David Davies (his fellow countryman) let alone Gordon Corps would approve, which conveys the need for standard flying skills plus additional skills. The problem is far far wider than Toulouse......
PJ2 - any thoughts?