This mentality might not have sprung up suddenly, but been creeping along under the carpet for years. In 90's I flew under Italian FTL's. We did long-haul duty times with 2 pilots equal to the CAP 371 heavy crew times. There was no crew rest area (only 2 pilots). The XAA considered the autopilot as the 3rd crew member. Not only that, but the rest time was always within the 18-30hr 'best to be avoided'. Sleeping on the cockpit floor over the N.Atlantic on the night return sector was the norm. The A/P was in CMD. Good game.
Maybe this should also be on the fatigue topic?