The old colonial notion that intelligence is the mark of sapience is entirely bullshit. Usually what people mean by intelligence is education, or the ability to clearly communicate; both of which are mostly indicative of wealth. But anyone whom has seen one pet mourn another can tell you, intelligence isn't the marker of sentience.

Empathy is.

They can program slime mold to solve traffic problems. Machines can spit out human text without a word of thought. The only mark of sentience is empathy.