I would define intelligence as the ability to sense the environment and make conscious decisions to change in response to that environment based on prior knowledge, experience, and logic. This would not include instinct. All intelligence starts with God, who always had the ultimate form of intelligence since he is all knowing. He has created a much lesser form of intelligence in animals, but only humans have true intelligence, where all of the decisions are fully conscious.

In evolution there is not intelligence (particularly intelligence controlling the evolution). Random changes happen by accident that predispose particular individuals to a better survival rate and those changes are passed down to future generations supposedly giving the next generation a higher chance of surviving. Because there is no intelligence leading the mutation or the survival, irreducibly complex systems cannot be slowly mutated into existence. They would have to appear fully formed. A partial mutation would not give enough benefit (most of the time zero benefit or negative benefit) to be a survival benefit especially a significant enough benefit to overcome the normally harmful effects of the overwhelming majority of mutations. Since >99% of mutations are harmful, only majorly beneficial mutations can realistically be selected for. There are basically zero known mutations that fit this category, especially if you limit it to mutations that produce new information. There are examples given of beneficial mutations, but every example, I know of, is a case of a loss of information that gives a creature a benefit in a narrowly defined environment, but reduces their ability to survive in diverse environments.