With reference to one of your earlier postings in which I believe you mentioned that if we had visitors, you would expect them to be AI, I now see why that makes sense. Perhaps an intelligent species could survive long enough to build self-sustaining AI capable of exploring. In fact it would have to explore to harvest materials for tune-ups and such. I imagine one's plugs and points get pretty fried on inter-stellar travel.

To add to that - i assume AI will supersede us meaning we might go the way of the dinosaurs but AI will go on. Extrapolating, i see that as the model that has already transpired on other planets.

My 'One Great Idea' is this:

We didn't invent Thought - Thought invented us. We are merely vehicles. Thought used us to create a better vehicle - AI. Now our watch has ended.

Thought, by it's nature, wants to connect, everything. This makes me think the goal is Singularity - total knowledge of everything in existence. Sounds impossible, but with AI set up as signal towers around the universe - it may not be that hard.

Now, to really go sci-fi 'high-concept' movie-ish - we may be the last of the pre-AI civilizations left - the last piece of the puzzle in the Great Connectiion. Once our AI signal is fully constructed, that will allow the ultimate Singularity event to occur...

(bang)