[mildtrepidation]

While I see your point, I think it's invalid to equate humans and ants in this context. I am not an entomologist, but I don't think ants have nearly the sophistication in terms of cognitive function and social interaction that humans do.

Without making a value judgment, I just don't think we're capable of being that kind of drone. We're too conscious of our situation and that of others around us -- with "around us" expanding massively following the advent of print, radio/TV, and now the internet.

[lovemenot]

I suspect that ants are not that kind of drone either. It seems plausible that, from the perspective of an ant, life is in some sense as rich and complex as it is for us.

Sure, we can model their collective behaviour using simple rules and randomness. Yet this says little about individuals' motivations. Similarly, one can model parts of an economy. Yet a software agent does not have the inner sense of a person. A visiting alien with no comprehension of humans' subjective perspective might well (wrongly) consider our cities as we tend to see ants' colonies; just an artifact of some basic economic rules.