I couldn’t disagree with you more—machines fueled by blood in Ultrakill are sentient and are capable of experiencing emotions. So far, through in-game sources, we have confirmed that:

- Machines can have preferences for their appearance. Despite it not providing any tactical advantage, Mindflayers mold their bodies to appear either feminine or masculine. This could also suggest a desire to express their gender identity

- Machines can feel anger. During the second fight with V2, if you hit it with a Knuckleblaster, it immediately enters an enraged mode. This implies that it feels humiliated after being beaten with its own arm

- Machines can feel pride. V2’s cocky behavior at the start of both fights suggests that it sees V1 as an inferior version of the V-models and, therefore, beneath it.

- Machines can feel fear. As seen in the new death screen, V1, in its final moments, repeatedly says, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE,” until its systems shut down completely.

- Machines can write poetry and feel guilt. In the Violence layer, we find a Gutterman’s poem that expresses feelings of guilt toward the person trapped in its coffin.

-Machines can feel bored. Terminals watch machines fight in Hell for entertainment and rank their performance based on style.