Inbefore anyone says 'but the book doesn't produce text', true, but the printing press did. I see very little difference between llms and printing presses: they both reproduce the words of others, the main difference is speed and scale. The pain you think you recognize in the output of an llm is real: it's real pain experienced by real people, probably hundreds or maybe thousands of people writing about their pain, mashed up and reprinted to suit you.

You’re assuming “mimicking”

Because it'd be really bizarre if it weren't. We're a Type 0 civilization. We can barely leave our planet. However, we've created sentient and sapient life. Accidentally. On a laptop. And this life we've created, younger than a two year old, can speak human language perfectly. That's some Weird Science level weird. Like creating Kelly LeBrock with an Apple IIe. Thinking AI can experience pain, is most likely semantic pareidolia.