Sentient Line Followers: The Next Robot Ethics Dilemma?

Introduction

Imagine your basic line follower robot suddenly *feeling* joy at hitting the finish line, or frustration when it misses a turn. 🤖🤯 Sounds wild for a simple bot, right? But it opens a HUGE ethical can of worms. If we *could* grant even basic AI sentience, where do we draw the line? Is it fair to create a feeling being just for a competition? Or is it a crucial step in AI evolution? This isn't just sci-fi anymore. What are YOUR thoughts?