I had the same reaction as you and so a few weeks ago I went looking for a solution I could deal with. I found @ontofractal who I feel does a good job of making bots, so I decided to try it out. The bot he made for me only uses my posting key, so I feel it's pretty safe. He is really great to work with and has been responsive to my needs, so I can definitely recommend him. Here's one of his latest posts. Check him out if you want a bot made and I think you'll be happy. He's good with security so far too and he answered all my questions. Here's his post: https://steemit.com/steemit/@ontofractal/steempunks-com-v0-5-released-new-authors-ratings