It was in jest; a tongue in cheek dig at how repetitive & easily automatable exploration would be.
Though now you mention it, programming such a bot to play ED would likely be a more rewarding experience. :x
My life's story in ED:
I bought the game.
I did worthless stuff; earnt peanuts, bored silly.
I ran Smeaton; earnt billions, bored silly.
I ranked up Empire, earnt peanuts, bored silly.
I went exploring, earnt peanuts, bored silly.
Arguable the most rewarding time I've had in ED was running Smeaton!
Sure it was mind numbingly boring, but at least it progressed something with mechanical worth that expanded the gameplay experience a little. (bank balance->buy & fly new ships)
Obviously this is somewhat of a simplification; while doing the 'worthless stuff' I was learning the game, so in the beginning it wasn't entirely boring.
Likewise exploration was initially interesting until I found my 1st undiscovered Neutron Star / Water world / Ammonia World / Earth-like, but now it's just rinse and repeat.
So unless you're interested in faction influence (which by many accounts is incredibly tedious), or combat, then my answer to the OP is a big fat:
Nothing.