I really think that will remove too much of the "human" side of the project. I do not know if that is a good thing.
I mean, I get the system will always have some limits, and people will always find a way to game it. But with an automatic distribution, I think it would feel like a "man against machine" activity.
But again, I see some very good points about it. A system like that would reward the social aspect of the platform, more than the quality aspect of it. Since the social activity is much more easy to adequate to numbers and analysis, the distribution would be fair. A distribution based on the notion of quality will always have problems, because quality, in this case, is subjective.
You gave me some very good food for thought. @ned was talking the other day about changing the system already. I think that is a very good sign.
Let's hope for the best.