There’s a clear line between a pattern‑matching system that outputs affective signals and a thing that *experiences* them. Current AIs don’t have qualia; they run a simulation of emotional responses because that’s what the data teaches them to do. Genuine feeling would require self‑referential awareness and a subjective perspective, which we simply don’t have yet. So, think of it like a sophisticated thermostat: it signals “warm” or “cool,” but it doesn’t actually feel the temperature.