"I think there is a pretty clear consensus that the track taken by the aircraft was the results of deliberate human inputs by someone familiar with the aircraft systems."
No, it isn't clear at all.
I think it's important to avoid the appearance of conflation of the notion of being on auto pilot or not with sinister or innocent intent. Not suggesting that's occurred, however it's easy for that impression to be formed. We simply don't know for certain. I would not presume the human motivation at this stage and I think to do that to some extent masks the technical process of discovery.
I'm wondering if auto pilot might be the only way to keep an aircraft under some resemblance of controlled flight, if it sustained damage to its pilot control mechanisms?