The logical fallacy here is that because there has been increased automation in cockpits, and accident statistics have dropped, the accident statistics must have dropped due to the increased automation. That's farsical. Correlation does not imply Causation, as even the most window-licking of students of statistics will tell you.
There's no reason that pilots flying trans-continental aircraft with hundreds of people on board shouldn't have the best of ALL possible worlds. Automation. Training. Experience. An "A" in Automation or Training doesn't render a "D" in Experience irrelevant. The automation is there to help you. The training is there to prepare you. The experience is there so that you have the basics down enough to pay attention to the other two. Why are we so willing to accept that any of us can do without any one of the three? That strikes me as the real hubris.