I have been asking around Discord about this for days - it's like you read my mind! I have been researching various topics on Steemit and voting bots, circles (or pods), etc are a major source of interest for me.

While I'm unfamiliar with specific voting bots, I have mixed opinions about the concept:

• Buying votes seems like it negates the curation system of quality post = quality reward
• That system only goes so far as bots do exist and seem to be widely used
• The smaller you are, the less you're able to earn per quality post, and bots seem like a pot of money that allows for higher voting values in relationship to cost, account reputation, and post earning capacity
• If you're writing good posts, self-curating shouldn't be entirely frowned upon, as you're still investing in the Steemit community and utilizing all available resources to maximize your investment (of time, expertise, etc)
• When your post has higher value, it gets more exposure (trending, hot) which is a means of growing your account, especially if you're doing something positive, impactful, or otherwise beneficial to the community - so buy paying a bot to vote for your post, you're maximizing benefit by exposure

It's still a self-driven act and that's where I get hung up. Curie and other curation programs seem like the natural antidote to the need to pay bots for exposure (smaller accounts are what they focus on), but you're still relying on something centralized (voting body with rules) and are limited by time as to how many of your posts can be curie'd.

Overall, I believe humans want utopia but get the wild west, whatever we try. And in the wild west, there are expressions of utopia and expressions of chaos. Finding a personal balance and doing what you believe is right for the greater good seems like the only way to proceed.