# Extraterrestrial Intelligence
**Concept class:** Scientific search target and civilizational question
## Definition
**Extraterrestrial intelligence** denotes possible nonhuman technological or communicative intelligence beyond Earth and the scientific methods used to search for its detectable signatures. SETI experiments seek radio, optical, or other technosignatures; the absence of a detected signal is not evidence that every possible intelligence or detection channel has been excluded.
## Relationships
- **ICE participants:** [[wiki/Jill Tarter|Jill Tarter]] and [[wiki/Paul Davies|Paul Davies]].
- **institutional routes:** [[wiki/SETI Institute|SETI Institute]] and [[wiki/Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science|Beyond Center]].
- **adjacent fields:** [[wiki/Astrobiology|Astrobiology]], technosignatures, planetary habitability, and [[wiki/Diverse Intelligence|Diverse Intelligence]].
- **disambiguation route:** [[wiki/ICE|ICE disambiguation]].
## Sources / Provenance
- [SETI Institute — FAQ](https://www.seti.org/about/faq)
- [SETI Institute — SETI research](https://www.seti.org/research/seti/)