[tptacek]

It is if you can keep a baseline level of quality uniform across both your customers and each of your customers projects. It's less OK if the human-assisted output is a loss-leader you burn on the pilot project, the first couple projects, or high-profile customers.

There's nothing fundamentally bad about having Oompa Loompa's behind the scenes, as long as you're honest about the outcomes you can provide.

I agree, though: also a very sensible way to prioritize development work.