A swarm has the ability to do intelligent things, and yet doesn't have a face.

All intelligence is ultimately emergent.

It's just that some have a face, and it's easy to fall into the illusion of complete agency with it.

But swarms don't have a face.

So we erroneously conclude they are not intelligent.

They are!

They just possess a non-face intelligence: pond-scum intelligence

But here's the secret: behind our face, our mask, we're pond scum intelligence, too!