I think the most misunderstood and overlooked argument for AppleScript is: Hey it is like English!
Better would be: Hey I can switch for instance to German/Dutch dialect like scripts, to make the computer more human to use.....
If Apple would not as stupid as it is today and since the last 8 years (TCook) and would refocus to create GREAT APPS instead of reinventing again and again even worser wheels and deliver more and more awful software (iWork).. we could combine all the genius ideas from different apps with one tool (and NO Swift/Mojave are the opposite of great. It is only the jump back to Carbon (Copland) trash before NeXT, the "inventor" of this so called Swift meanwhile was fired at TESLA for his genius )
With AppleScript You can include all the other languages (JavaScript, UNIX-Shell, Python etc.) system wide so the advice to take for instance JavaScript/Python doesn't fit to the main goal to make apps interoperable maybe over the borders of one OS (OSX/Windows/Linux/GNUstep/FreeBSD)......
As far as I know there is no script language on other platforms to interoperate between apps with a human like dialect right?
One main reason Adobe still dominates the whole market of graphic software for decades now with its x-times overpriced apps: All the apps are scriptable with the natural like script language: Applescript.
With Adobe Software (hated or not) you can create workflows that save you money at the end!!!
If you want to break the domination of Photoshop you don't only have to make equal/or better routines for manipulating photos inside Affinity photo and sell it 10 times cheaper you have to make it accessible from outside via scripts to make workflows possible.
May I include the following link to the CMD-D CONFERENCE 2017 VIDEOS were the old AppleScript guru Sal Soghoian (fired 2016?) explains the advances of automation.
All videos are interesting, especially The "Why" of automation :-).
http://www.cmddconf.com/2017/videos.html
Best regards
p.s. Sorry for my bad English.