Thinking about the roles of pacers in making a race exciting or "authentic", maybe a solution is for meet managers to stop providing pacers, opting instead to open more entries for multiple members of top training group and teams. For example, the Brussels 5,000m doesn't bring their own pacer, but a few more entries are opened up for athletes from BTC, or another athlete lined up by Rentao Canova on behalf of Imane Merga and Longosiwa, and the coaches/teammates come up with their own race plan for fast times.
What's the difference? For one, the race is a little less artificial, as it is being build up by the athletes and their coaches, rather than orchestrated by meet management. The team battle for position authority is at least a little more for fans and commentators to chew on in the early part of the race. Finally, as the mentality shifts to team tactics, there are more opportunities for dynamic racing. Think of Cheruiyot's teammates dragging her back to Ayana to win the 5000m Gold, Or Tanui and Kamrowar taking it to Farah at the Half World Champs. The emphasis is on competition, but still with the same opportunities for fast times, like when Dennis Kimetto broke out pushing his teammate Mutai in Berlin.
The most important shift is from the from athletes at best matching, but often failing, to meet expectations (of the meet management's pace) to athletes building the race themselves. By avoiding expectations that are so often not met, the sport becomes more engaging, as each race that doesn't produce a fast time isn't seen as a waste of time.