What do you mean "no other way to do it"? Traditionally these sort of things been curated, by humans who read and make judgements, how is that not another way to do it? Probably would solve the whole "bit... bland?" problem to, given the right curator.
That would not be a mere project, but a huge commitment. Which would be devalued if the content was not published consistently, regularly, predictably with no vacations, etc.
It would be a truly honorable commitment (I greatly appreciate similar efforts by people elsewhere), but not one to be made lightly.
(Edit: despite the "not a...but a" construction above, this comment is HI only, and not even much of that! :-)
On the other hand, the HN front page is already the result of collective curation.