I think that if you're going to automate resource collection without player interaction, you should just do it. I think it would be silly going to the effort of cluttering the environment with resources just so you can click a button and have companions play the game for you.
In Expeditions: Viking, you have a camping mechanic where you give characters jobs such as "cooking", "hunting", "collecting herbs", "crafting", etc. I think that it's much more interesting way to have characters use these kinds of resource-based skills as part of a camping minigame. (It would also allow you to implement the camp ration mechanics from D&D instead of ditching them entirely.)
I do like the Pathfinder: Kingmaker method of having doors automatically unlocked by the best lockpicker, but again, it kind of means that Pathfinder is playing the game on your behalf. I think the problem here is that the game is presenting a choice that isn't meaningful or interesting. (It's just about remembering which character has the highest lockpicking stat.)
The game designers might need to review whether the lockpicking skill (etc) could be handled differently so that utilising it isn't such a boring chore that the game would need to just do it for you.
