I can think about this forever and never get anywhere- What makes emotions real? If we put receptors on an AI and programed damage=pain pain = insufferable, how would it actually differ from what our brains do? Does our pain exist as something tangible, or does pain not exist at all, aside from our brains telling us that nociceptors mean bad time?

We know an ant doesn’t feel the same pain as us (if any, pain is pretty much an emotion) but a dog is some where in between- is there a line when pain becomes real, tangible, significant?