It enables me to focus on the subject: family, animals, plants, landscape, whatever. The algorithm has a lot more patience and competence for the secondary details.
People CAN basically use Full-Auto on a DSLR which wouldn't hurt their images but I think that they miss the nuances of a lens or how making slight adjustments to the settings will create a different effect. I don't see any personal benefits from ignoring details of the craft.
I didn't deny people can use these settings to make the photos really shine, but for non-professionals, it is -- from my point of view -- wiser to focus on the people you're taking photos of. Amateurs should really master angle, position and so forth before diving into the world of technical minorities - which is often not the case.