Fourth option: He was working from this paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16247 ; trying to demonstrate functional affect; a bit too successfully, perhaps.

Doesn't require aliveness, doesn't require anthropomorphization, just requires maths and empirical data. If your premise is "vectors can't have that shape", well, mathematics disagrees.

edit/note: sentiment classifiers have existed for ages before LLMs were ever invented. Obviously a task that machines could already do didn't suddenly become impossible with the invention of LLMs ;-)