I think that it is still very relevant though to this discussion. I was born with some reprogrammed instincts and senses to let me objectively decide if an experience was positive or negative. This ultimately is the basis on which I am able to learn. When you're young, you may try random things like putting your hand on a hot burner. It gives you pain, so you learn not to do that! Likewise we need to pre-program an AI with ways of objectifying its environment and stimulus. From there a trial and error mentality can lead to a wealth of artificial knowledge. To expect a program to come to intelligence that can compete on any degree with humans without first programming some basic 'artificial emotions' would be unfair.