The problems with the Fermi Paradox are so foundational that using it as the basis of any assumption about the distribution of extra-terrestrial life, let alone

The problems with the Fermi Paradox are so foundational that using it as the basis of any assumption about the distribution of extra-terrestrial life, let alone extra-terrestrial intelligence, is futile. We just don't know what other life will look like, where it will live, on what timescale it operates, or, well, anything. And this is before we then take into account the changes that intelligence will wrought. An advanced, intelligent race could appear as nearly, literally anything it chooses. We are basing these ideas of Great Filters, Dark Forests, etc on the idea that the universe is apparently empty. It could be obviously teeming with life that we are unable to see because it operates outside of our lifespans and contexts. They might have noticed that Earth has recently developed a petroleum and concrete surface scum and are frantically (for their frame of reference) inquiring as to whether Earth is OK or if it has a disease.