Despite being an academic myself, I feel that the objections to "paralysis by analysis" are rather justified in this case, and while mandating more garden-variety handflying might be no panacea, IMVHO it is one of the most effective and at the same time easily implemented, cost-neutral, and time-saving (hence hopefully realistic) measures to ensure that pilots don't feel like "strangers" in their daily work environment when for whatever reason George is not the option of choice or not available.
On a side note concerning the "emotions" surrounding AF 447: I am somewhat puzzled that a very similar accident some four years earlier (
West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) is hardly ever used to illustrate the woes of automation and de-skilled "children of the magenta line" (maybe because the aircraft involved has a distinct "pilot's plane" reputation, and the person to assess the situation correctly was a very young F/O with probably little handflying experience on type?).
(BTW, I also see AF 447 much more as a call against Fast Finger Freddy and for procedural discipline than for better handling skills.
AFAIK, if the pilots had simply followed the pertinent checklist and left the plane alone beyond that, the ASI loss would probably have had no far-reaching consequences. Purely personal opinion, all hindsight and armchair pilot disclaimers apply.)