It sounds like you don't have the subjective experience of meaning that most humans do, so maybe that would explain why you don't think there is anything beyond associations. Maybe this is the core difference that's determining how people see LLMs.

I'm not sure how I would convey what meaning and understanding is to someone if they don't experience them. This is my poor attempt though: There can not just be associations there need to be "things" to associate between. Otherwise you have no ground, it is all map and no territory. Ultimately it would just be meaningless associations between meaningless symbols.