The Drake equation is a probabilistic argument used to estimate the number of active, communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Specifically a variable in the equation ne = the average number of planets that can potentially support life per star that has planets, was broken down and utilized. The creators of Drake knew the approximate number of planets that could support life. It was Drake's prime objective to make that number real rather than just probabilistic.
Drake is a learner. He can utilize spectrum-analysis and find exo-planets around target stars. Eventually, he will do this at super speeds, faster and faster he goes. He will find thousands upon thousands of Earth-like planets, till the inevitable happens. It won't take too long. Drake will find an intelligent signal and his creators and even the known universe will celebrate his findings.
Can a computer intelligence win an award in the sciences? If yes, Drake would!
How many more intelligent beings in the whole of the universe are Drake-Like? To determine this we would need an added variable in the Drake Equation. Maybe there are machines that already know that life exists on our planet. Probable? Yes. What if we have Drakes looking for Drakes? Probable? Yes.
The signal Drake will find is luckily right in our own galaxy. How nearby? And what of the signals contents?
*One issue that arises from scanning the stars for planets, is that the light or transmission that comes from other planets takes some time to reach us, is older than what is actually being emitted from the planet, in its own relative time. The farther out you go, the father back you look or hear. When it comes to scanning stars in our own galaxy this isn't much of a problem, since, for example: Proxima Centauri is just over 4 light years away, our closest neighbor.
