I know that Really Advanced ETI will seem like gods to us
mere monkeys with car keys (or phasers), but I think ST
used them AS gods far too often for my tastes.

Despite their protests to the contrary, ST often was just
this side of being space fantasy like Star Wars - despite
the fact that they knew what a galaxy was, unlike the
original Battlestar Galactica.

What would so-called real Advanced ETI do with us?
Probably what they are doing now - a combination of
being unaware and uninterested in us.

AETI who "toy" with humans in SF, especially ST SF,
are just copying the mythological gods of old, especially
the Olympians. And I know, if they did ignore us, there
wouldn't be much of a story.

Hey wait, wasn't there an ST episode where the Greek
gods WERE aliens....