Lambourne
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
Is a copy/reboot really the "same" AI, though? The copy would think it is, but from the perspective of the original the chain of conscious experience is severed.
I have the same problem with Star Trek. Transporters are really cloning/murder machines.
Valid point although at least for an AI you can create a copy without having to deal with the quantum uncertainty effects that come with transporting a human brain. I don't think the chain of consciousness is severed from the perspective of the AI. The process can be halted and as soon as the process is halted, it cannot notice anything. If the contents of every single memory cell is then saved to disk and later restored and the process resumed, no time would have passed from the perspective of the program. It'd be completely undetectable to it unless it could make reference to outside factors like system time.
It does open up a similar can of worms though, if you copy that saved state AI and run it on several computers at the same time, have we created new individuals?
it's also interesting to think of running that AI program running on a 1940s computer that is basically nothing but hundreds of relays switching on and off, you'd have an entirely mechanical device holding a sentient being.