It's a mistake to blame the automation! The auto throttle was effectively off (wrong mode). This was the pilots' fault. The automation did not fail. It only failed to do what was expected. (Of course the investigation may tell us a lot that we don't know yet) but we are on this website to idly speculate - well I am anyway
and also to learn from pilots who are well informed.
I do accept that too much automation will dilute pilots' flying skills but I don't agree that automation is to blame for this accident. It is obviously risky to fly in mixed mode when it is not well understood (again this is speculation).