I fear that greeners first post - his statement in italics will be the way of the future.
In a leading Far Eastern company new cadets with just a few hundred hours total time, doing their B777 conversion are encouraged, if not taught, to engage the ap from sim session one. !!! Autopilot out when on final full flap and nice and stable.
I fear the autopilot is now the master with the "pilots" telling it what to do - which is the normal thing to do - BUT it is becoming our crutch when things are not so normal. Strong crosswind - do an autoland - rainy day, vis down to 1500m do and autoland ( that is even recommended by management) regardless of the state of the ILS! - one engine inop - do an autoland. Loss of control whilst in manual flight - engage the autopilot!
It's a big big problem but it does seem that high profile individuals and organizations recognise this - its just going to take years and years ( if it gets done at all) to move towards getting BACK IN ONTROL