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I think the argument is that while ants are indeed interesting to us as a subject, not every single anthill gets our attention. There are probably lots of anytime anthills in out of the way places that have never had human interaction.

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Maybe not humans, but they probably do get visits from other insects and animals.

an interesting point which begs the question of what is a threshold of intelligence required to lose interest in a species. and if intelligence isn't the only parameter, what are the others? predation is an obvious one, curiosity comes with a form of intelligence, what else is there?

I think a sense of curiosity is a pre-requisite or perhaps co-emergent with technological advancement.

They also need to be advanced enough to be send an interstellar probe or ship to visit other disntant planets.

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