Not quite following the stick/automatic and human/computer comparisons. I also drive a stick - and I definitely think it makes me a better driver - but I also think that a computer could do a better job than me. The computer could be tracking many more things - environmental conditions, 360-degree obstacle detection, etc. - than I could ever do myself.
But what it doesn't do, yet, is know that you're going to take that hill home, so let's leave it in 3rd gear for the time being. Or that you intend to accelerate out of that next curve at the edge of traction, so let's not upshift as we ease up on the gas.
Desired power is really a one-dimensional intent, manual and traditional automatic transmissions are both leaky abstractions one of which forces a two-dimensional input, and the other of which gives a choice between a 2D input with different characteristics and a 1D input that isn't continuous but instead behaves very differently in different input ranges. CVTs are less leaky than either.
