It is fun with a group or society, sometimes even with the random gathering showing up. Loot-wise you can get as lucky or unlucky as with any other mob. Shared-loot typical caveats apply (use the most efficient gear you can, plan your budget to participate in more kills rather than do big damage on just a few). Also consider whether or not you want to collect robot loot at all, i.e. if you don't do this often or hunt them otherwise you may end up throwing away markup for not reaching sellable stack sizes.
The buff reward was most likely intended as a novel motivator when it was introduced. Since it is applied directly without choice to save it for a later occasion, it is only useful if you proceed to another activity immediately where it helps. Community feedback has been rather blasé about it as far as expressions in chats and forums can tell, whether MA's internal data shows better acceptance we can't say. Try it out and see where it takes you. Good luck!