A robot pilot far above the capability of "auto pilot" could make split second optimal decisions to keep the plane flying. AI could do this completely without emotion or hesitation being able to diagnose flight issues and their solutions in a matter of seconds. The pilot would assume the role of co-pilot, and take a decrease in pay thereby paying for the continued research and upgrade of AI pilots.
Except that in this specific case it is speculated (but not proven) that after ~33secs of its activation the autopilot gave up and handed the plane back to the pilot because it couldn't make sense out of the sensor readings. They actually activated the autopilot after the AoA vane broke and the stick shaker activated. And they raised the flaps before the autopilot disengaged. The guy from the videos posted earlier, also posted a nice link explaining a lot about the stab trimming, emergency procedures, and changes in the mechanisms over the 737 evolution. Like that in the past it was possible to cutout autopilottrim, but maintain electric supported amnual trim. That's no longer like that in the MAX.
