I guess it depends what question are we trying to ask. It may well be that there is no other intelligent life close enough to us, or coexisting with us in time, that we will ever be aware of it, but yet the universe may still be teeming with intelligent life.
In either case it's a statistical question of how common is life, and intelligent life, but of course there's the human interest in potential contact with another intelligent life form.
In either case it's a statistical question of how common is life, and intelligent life, but of course there's the human interest in potential contact with another intelligent life form.