Why not? What do you mean by "intend"? You are making a big assumption here: that there is a FUNDAMENTAL difference between life and non-life.

This assumption has dogged science since the 18th century and before. First it was 'animal electricity', then 'organic chemistry', then the (ongoing) resistance to the idea that people evolved from non- human ancestors, and that those ancestors can be traced back to the simplest recognisable life forms. And now, you are assuming that there is a discontinuity between thought/ feeling and the earlier, more 'primitive' processes that our finest human emotions are built on.

To me, IF humans evolved from earlier animals, and IF earlier animals evolved from processes we would currently describe as non- living, there is no a priori reason why other constructs of matter should not be capable of feeling in a way parallel to ours.

Of course, that's not saying that any currently used technique or system is even vaguely on the ball.