[PvK]

Well that's the problem - if you develop a truly intelligent and superior computer-controlled fleet, that's represented during race creation in the background text, e.g.:

"The X Imperium was originally a biological democracy who failed to restrain their technological developments to match the wisdom of their politicians. They developed a very clever warrior artificial intelligence system. So clever that it is now in complete control of the new X Imperium, with only a few biologicals retained mainly for experimental purposes."

So, perhaps I should add this as a racial trait (new racial tech area), rather than a simple component available to everyone on the computers research path.

It could even be something still discovered during play. At that point, components become available which make the bridge/crew completely superfluous. Hmm... sounds like a good idea, actually.

PvK