There are a bunch of situations where the autopilot in fact turns itself off. For instance, when the sensors are providing faulty readings. And, coincidentally

There are a bunch of situations where the autopilot in fact turns itself off. For instance, when the sensors are providing faulty readings. And, coincidentally or not, the plane had had one of its sensors replaced a day or two before the crash. So, a priori, I wouldn't be so sure that the pilots should just have let the embedded software free to do its job. It may have been the case, of course, but only the investigation could tell.