Yes by using upvote bots, the whales win in the end. They are usually are the ones delegating their SP to a bot, so they get a bunch of those curation rewards back again. Consolidating more wealth to the wealthy. And we're pretty much just handing it to them.
I'm not sure how I feel about down votes because of bot usage... I suppose if it's clearly a garbage post and it's pumped up with a bunch of pay-per-play bot votes, then maybe.
I am shocked at how many undervalued post there are and overvalued posts there are! I think there is only so much curation a person can do in a day for actual upvotes. That's why I always appreciate the human comments on my posts. @ironshield