This quote is like the best thing ever from your thread:
If you put 5 identical TV sets next to each other and press the next channel button on a single remote, all 5 TV's switch to the next channel. Does that make the TV's automated? No, they don't change channel on their own, they only act when you actively press a key.

Same deal with multiboxing. The chars does absolutely nothing unless you press a key. That 5 chars listen to a single keyboard doesn't make them automated, just like 5 TV's listening to a single remote isn't automated.