I read about this sentiment a lot, and I also read the re-buttels.
I was such a purist that I even stopped using @originalworks, back when it still paid you a penny or two to post because I didn't want to ruin steemit.
Then I started reading charts and graphs by steemians like @penguinpablo and found that less than 1.5% of votes are made using bots. The rest of them are made by regular accounts. I don't know how he tracks that and I don't know if community accounts, and services like @steembasicincome (which has been deemed "good" by the community that uses it) are included there.
I do know this, bots are we know them are not sustainable for the people who run the bots. The value of SBD has to stay at a certain way for it to be profitable. Also, there are SMT's coming, that will also make the bots less profitable again.
These bots won't be around for long. Im using them while I can, but understand why other people are against them.