Correct. "ASMs" as a basis for pilot compensation amounts to a "piece work" model. Like paying farm workers per bushel of cabbages picked, or coal miners per ton of coal mined, or as the old song goes, per banana loaded...
"Tally man, tally man, tally me ASMs. Daylight come and me wan' go home!"
A "piece work" pay model works - if the worker controls and is responsible for his own productivity. "There's a field of cabbages - you can spend 8 hours in it and pick one bushel and read a book, or spend 8 hours in it and pick 100 bushels. We'll only pay you for the bushels."
Or - "Here's a 737. Go out and fly it on any route(s) you want for 8 hours (or even leave it parked on the ramp), but we'll pay you only for every ASM you bring home."
"Uber in the skies with diamonds."
It is an "investor-class" metric. And it carries its own moral hazard, in that it absolves managers from having to work and plan very hard to efficiently use their human resources. Any darn-fool business model can work (once one gets past basic fixed costs), if workers are paid based on output, but have no control over their output.