Artie
With respect, I don’t understand your saying that auto ISO with compensation makes no sense.
Just as Av and Tv modes have their place, so also does auto ISO.
It alters ‘exposure’ by a chosen increment while retaining strict control of aperture and shutter speed – very useful for a bird photographer.
It surely makes the same sense (or not) as Av or Tv mode with compensation.
Manual in most situations makes most sense but if using an auto mode, it’s just a question of which exposure parameter you want to alter.

Sorry in advance to sound pedantic, but ISO has nothing to do with exposure.

The three variables governing exposure are Aperture, Shutter Speed and Scene Luminance – only these three factors govern the amount of light falling on the sensor – and hence the exposure.

ISO governs the sensitivity of the recording medium (film or digital sensor) and affects the brightness of the image.
Perceived brightness is not the same as exposure.
Exposure is defined at base ISO and only at base ISO.
Changing ISO is simply altering perceived brightness.

Increasing or decreasing ISO means either choosing a more sensitive film stock and or push/pull processing OR increasing/decreasing the electrical gain of the sensor. In both cases the sensitivity of the recording medium is being altered to show different brightness at a given exposure, but the amount of light producing the exposure has not changed by one iota.

It’s a technical point, but useful to understand the science of what is actually going on when one plays with the ‘exposure’ triangle.

Howls of protest to follow…