Scientists Developing Intelligent Robo Probes to Explore Alien Worlds

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2008/07/scientists-deve.html

The quote:

This isn't the harbinger of robot-dominated alien worlds that would then return to exterminate the human race. The only "intelligence" the probes display is limited to image interpretation and response. It could still be an important step on the way to Artificial Intelligence though.

After all, evolution never set out to make us self-aware; survival simply encouraged better and better interpretation abilities until one of the things we could analyze was ourselves. As robot minds get more sophisticated, it might make sense to start building a Battlestar just in case.