RE: Bots - We Need More Bid Bots Or Up Vote Bots
Auto voter bots are already around, mostly used in a curation trails. If you follow that bot's curation trail you will auto vote whatever post the bot have upvoted.
I can see someone coming alone developing an AI to write many posts and having a circle of friends auto vote every post draining the rewards pool.
This is already happening except for the AI part writing a post.
Have a look at the minnowsupport trail, I think there are more than 1000 members following that trail. If you posted an article and minnowsupport upvoted your post these 1000 members will also auto vote your post and you will receive a 1001 up-votes. The value of that up-votes? Depends on the SP of the people following that curation trail and depends on how much % they are willing to give.
Draining the reward pool? I don't know maybe it is possible if more SBD and steem is coming out from the reward pool than going in.
Maybe there is a tool to see that, to see how much is going into the reward pool and going out of the reward pool.
That is great what minnowsupport trail is doing. I know in theory some people frown on this. I am not knowledgeable about the reward pool or how it works I was under the impression that up votes ad downvotes is similar to mining. I would think that this activity done by bots consistently would cause the price of Steem and/or SBD to decrease; but it is all theory.