They can read the on-chain messages sent to you in which the authors specify the number

That's why we can have memo encryption and setting this trough website.

It's a common misunderstanding that the highest ROI is achieved by always voting the highly rewarded posts.

Of course, but it's most predictable which is good enough for many automated curators. That's why you see the same authors in trending so often.

Curation is already automated for many users, @reward.app won't change it. But we're adding something new and will observe the results. We have ways to make the curation more profitable for both manual curators and automated ones.