They should have been able to react.
I myself am in the business of building aircraft instruments, and on other aircraft I’ve been involved with there is an explicit flight test to demonstrate that the human pilot can override an inappropriate full-nose-down command from the autopilot.
They could react a lot better through the daily reminders that happen over the course of a flight, when it wasnt automated.
90% of forget most of what we are taught within a couple of days of being told.