I fully agree with you. In particular, I think that the transparency that you advocate is the only logical and sensible way to grow a blockchain-based business...
As I said many times, one of the most fascinating aspect of Steemit (to me) is that it mimicks the complexity of the real world: people can partner (or even collude), play politics, use bots, debate over the rules, etc. Ultimately, I believe the system can/will self-regulate, adjusting rules dynamically towards the strategy that maximizes success (and market value).
Bottomline: to me bots are fine, especially if we talk openly about them...