I'm not so sure it is going to be a glitch. People thought autonomous woo-hoo was a glitch just to find out it's a feature. It would not surprise me at all if this (if true) is intended.
I personally do not want story progression on my played sims (the ones in my rotation), I could care less what my townies do with their lives, I just would like to see options in the settings panel. For me there is a big difference between higher autonomy (sims tending to their garden on their own or jogging around the neighborhood) and sims getting married, or having woohoo for the first time (SP).