Morning @chasegapo
I have been thinking a lot about this topic. I agree that bots change the flavour of this platform. People want to interact with people. Bot votes are in many ways meaningless and I think will act against main stream adoption.
Having said that, this is how the game rules are set up. I've laboured over it and part of me thinks that whether I like it or not I have to play the game.
I haven't used a bot yet as I'm still working through the ethical and functional aspects of it.
I completely understand your take on the subject. Lot's of people have the same opinion actually. Indeed it is how the game is set up, and people think to stay ahead they need to use bots. This may or may not be the case. I have never used a bot either. It seems once you get a community started, and people truly supporting - you won't have to worry and will naturally grow without trying. It's getting to that point that is tough.