From my perspective, the AOW class from PADI is predominantly an opportunity for you to dive in conditions that you haven't dived before WITH a qualified and experienced Instructor. Is it possible to do the same dives without an Instructor -- sure, but it depends on who you are buddying with. There are many divers who you could buddy with who have hundreds if not thousands of dives. The only advantage an Instructor might have versus one of these buddies is having a broader sense of experiences in providing valuable feedback to the diver. But then again, your buddy might be able to give you excellent feedback, tips, techniques, etc..
While some (others may say 'many') Instructors see this as an 'quick and easy' class to teach, I try to create as much as value as possible for my students. It makes me feel like I am delivering a quality service and hopefully prevents my students from having the feeling I had when I took my AOW class (wow, was that it?).
As has been said many times on SB, it all depends on which Instructor you get. Talk to him/her and ask her/him exactly how the class is run. If you get vague generalities or "its completed over a Fri-Sat-Sun, then unless thats what you want, try a different Instructor. I say that because there are some students who have many, many dives already and are just getting through AOW so that can get to Rescue and beyond.
Good Luck
Edited - self to cleanup misc. typos