Shostak is a senior astronomer of the SETI group, or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. He thinks that the progression of technology is such that if we're looking for radio waves, we should also be searching for signs of artificial intelligence as the distance between the two isn't so great.
"If you look at the timescales for the development of technology, at some point you invent radio and then you go on the air and then we have a chance of finding you," Shostak said. "But within a few hundred years of inventing radio - at least if we're any example - you invent thinking machines; we're probably going to do that in this century."
It may sound a little wild, but really, it's not that far of a stretch. Heck, we've got a robotic astronaut getting ready to launch into space.
Shostak concludes with, "I think we could spend at least a few percent of our time... looking in the directions that are maybe not the most attractive in terms of biological intelligence but maybe where sentient machines are hanging out."
I've got a hint for you, doctor: Cybertron.
Via BBC News
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