IMHO, more like automated and coordinated conscious subroutines (e.g. a lion suddenly appears in front of you, fear kicks in and automatically gives you everything your body's got to survive: all non priority tasks are shut down (e.g. digestion stops, and you may literally shit your pants), chemicals are pumped into your system to enhance performance (e.g. adrenaline, cortisol, etc.), etc. etc.

And those emotions can be retrained (e.g. somebody fearful of spiders can be "brain-washed" into feeling comfortable with them)... So they are tools. If a trigger isn't adequate anymore, or new triggers are created, one can retrain oneself.

That's why I argue computers already have emotions. They only lack consciousness to feel them.