I think SE looks at botting as a plus and minus. If the game it slow and they need to keep players doing things they allow more botting. If new content is popular they crack down on bots a bit more. I have played on ps3 and ps4 now since 2013 launch. I have seen waves of bots come and go, they seem to be most active when the content turns players off and they seem to disappear when there is a lot of new content to do. I also think it is cultural that they let it slide on NA servers since they feel we are going to do it anyways where it is not common on JP servers as I understand it.
In the end, as a crafter and gathering, I feel it devalues the game content and my motivation. I want to play this game with other players, not against a bunch of bot programs.