Human/advanced animal intelligence, maybe not needed, no... and perhaps a little bit too scary.
(Although i was kind of hoping for a hot Angelina Jolie 'pleasure-bot' to look after me in my old age. :P)
However, 'general intelligence' in simple synthetic lifeforms like insects or certain marine creatures could be very useful for dealing with a robot's basic "survival instinct" and the ability to move and adapt correctly. When combined with conventional AI systems or human influences to 'steer' it in a more controlled way (remote or not) it really gets useful.
Imagine the usefulness in areas like research in dangerous or impossible to get to areas like off-world, deep-sea or sub-subterranean research etc.. Perhaps even in the further future, tiny 'simple' robots with a synthetic nervous system (with no room for processors/electronics) that "instinctively" knows how to swim in the body to fight diseases.
..Or in symbiotic vehicles. Imagine a giant "spider" ATV, the driver simply has to steer it and make it faster or slower, nothing to do with controlling the legs. However the thing 'knows' how to behave differently on certain terrains to get max speed, climb over stuff, swim and jump gaps without being told, knows that when falling distance it should "brace" itself for the impact etc... (as if the driver was riding a horse).
(Although i was kind of hoping for a hot Angelina Jolie 'pleasure-bot' to look after me in my old age. :P)
However, 'general intelligence' in simple synthetic lifeforms like insects or certain marine creatures could be very useful for dealing with a robot's basic "survival instinct" and the ability to move and adapt correctly. When combined with conventional AI systems or human influences to 'steer' it in a more controlled way (remote or not) it really gets useful.
Imagine the usefulness in areas like research in dangerous or impossible to get to areas like off-world, deep-sea or sub-subterranean research etc.. Perhaps even in the further future, tiny 'simple' robots with a synthetic nervous system (with no room for processors/electronics) that "instinctively" knows how to swim in the body to fight diseases.
..Or in symbiotic vehicles. Imagine a giant "spider" ATV, the driver simply has to steer it and make it faster or slower, nothing to do with controlling the legs. However the thing 'knows' how to behave differently on certain terrains to get max speed, climb over stuff, swim and jump gaps without being told, knows that when falling distance it should "brace" itself for the impact etc... (as if the driver was riding a horse).