I know what you mean because I have the same question about copying a fully-developed pattern. IMHO the only "cheating" would happen if the quilt was deliberately misrepresented or mislabeled.
Personally, I would be perfectly OK with using an automated or programmed quilting process because I do not like the actual quilting as much as sewing the blocks/tops.
For me, the question is more about entering automated quilts alongside quilts done by manually-controlled longarms - is that fair?