I don’t think that is necessarily a bad preference if this was an actual dichotomy. Not all types of manipulation is equal, and when you at least try to hide it shows at least some respect for the user.
That said, I don‘t believe this dichotomy is real. Personally I don‘t use AI, political manipulation is however only a relatively tiny part of my reasoning for opting out.
That's certainly not a universal preference. There are people and even entire cultures for whom being surreptitiously manipulative is disrespectful.
Maybe so. I am personally intimately familiar with two cultures (Iceland and West Coast USA) and in both of these this preference is predominant.
But even so, that still would not make the behavior equal, as GP insinuated, it would merely reverse who’s worse.
Show some respect and stab me in the back at least!