But information processing occurs way higher up than at the neuron level. I’d argue neurons are still responding to chemical and electrical signals. Information processing may not require nearly as many degrees of complexity.
You can loose a portion of your brain and still be you. So what’s necessary couldn’t possibly be so low level, in my opinion. You wouldn’t say that you’re less yourself after a neuron dies, would you?
Also, “pain” is just a process we experience. If our experience is made up of models, then “pain” is some formulaic response to transposition of those models. If a simulation produces those transpositions, my argument is that the pattern there defines pain itself. It doesn’t matter if done by an organic brain or not.