I think pets often feel real emotions, or at least bodily sensations, and communicate those to humans in a very real way, whether thru barking or meowing or whimpering or whatnot. So while we may care for them as we care for a human, just as we may care for a plant or a car as a human, I think if my car started to say it felt excited for me to give it a drive, I might also feel uncomfortable.
They do, but they've evolved neoteny (baby-like cries) to do it, and some of their emotions aren't "human" even though they are really feeling them.
Silly example, but some pets like guinea pigs are almost always hungry and they're famous for learning to squeak at you whenever you open the fridge or do anything that might lead to giving them bell peppers. It's not something you'd put up with a human family member using their communication skills to do!
There’s definitely an element of evolution: domesticated animals have evolved to have human recognizable emotions. But that’s not to say they’re not “real” or even “human.” Do humans have a monopoly on joy? I think not. Watch a dog chase a ball. It clearly feels what we call joy in a very real sense.
Adult dogs tend to retain many of the characteristics that wolf puppies have, but grow out of when they become adults.
We've passively bred out many of the behaviors that lead to wolves becoming socially mature. Such dogs tend to be too dangerous to have around, since they may lead to the dogs challenging their owners (more than they already do) for dominance of the family.
AI's will probably be designed to do the same thing, so they will not feel threatening to us. But in the case of AGI/ASI, we will never know if they actually have this kind of subservience, or if they're just faking it for as long as it benefits them.
