The flappy paddles are useful in an auto, My golf did not have them and sometimes you need to use engine braking and it mean’s you don’t have to move the stick to manual gear mode is great in snow rather than breaking you can change down gears to slowdown.
Also my current car is a honda civic sport and you can only get the revs high when you use the paddles and boy does the car shift like a rocket then.. I have had the issue with lag on most modern auto’s as the gearbox always trys to keep the revs as low as possible and either you can kick down or put you foot down more on the gas but for me thats an issue so the paddles are great. If i need a sudden boost i use the paddle to kickdown. Also the thottle responce is faster when in sport mode which also means not having to press the gas peddle down as much as in normal mode or eco that’s painfull indeed. very rarely use it if i am driving.