[widgeon13]

This from another article, they (crew) didn't follow the correct procedure:

The proper thing for Bonin to have done would have been to keep the plane flying level and to have Robert refer to a relevant checklist to sort out their airspeed problems. Instead, neither man consulted a checklist and Bonin pulled back on the controls, causing the airplane to climb and lose airspeed. Soon, he had put the plane into an aerodynamic stall, which means that the wings had lost their ability to generate lift. Even with engines at full power, the Airbus began to plummet toward the ocean.

As the severity of their predicament became more and more apparent, the pilots were unable to reason through the cause of their situation. Despite numerous boldfaced clues to the nature of their problem -- including a stall-warning alarm that blared 75 times -- they were simply baffled. As Robert put it, after the captain had hurried back to the cockpit, "We've totally lost control of the plane. We don't understand at all... We've tried everything."

and this from a pilot friend:

Not mentioned here but something I've previously pointed out is that whoever is first on the Airbus control stick is the one who is the sole controller. The AF copilot would have no way to counteract the input from the IRO. He could have inputs only if the IRO had released the control stick at which point the copilot would have sole control should he make inputs. If both try to make inputs at the same time, an arrow in front of the pilot with the ineffective control stick lights up to show that the other pilot is in control.
Some system.

I agree with Joe. The pilots still need to fly the plane and rely less on electronics. These things are not just negatively effecting commercial aviation safety, this kind of benign neglect is happening to general aviation as well.