Lack of a drive for self-preservation doesn't in itself imply a lack of intelligence or of self-awareness.

I have not seen any evidence of intelligence or self awareness. It mimics human behavior and I suspect that is what gives people the impression of awareness. The same problem happened with Tamagotchi toys. The human mimicry caused kids to get in trouble because if they did not "feed" their pet it would "die". [1]

It's a hack of the human brain. A exploit of the psyche.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamagotchi_effect