When a copy of the Asa agent "Robby", described in my post of April 2, is loaded into a computer system with different specifications (faster, more memory, different sensor array, different effectors, etc.) it notices this change and slowly adapts to it.**(By changing the concepts in its knowledge/memory web.) The copy of "Robby" that remains behind in the old computer system only experiences any time loss required by the copy operation. This would become longer for more extensive Asa casebases. It is not that a single Robby consciousness* has been moved to a newer and better machine. Rather, the consciousness***, along with the rest of the software and casebase, was duplicated. The old copy of Robby, including its consciousness, will still die, as can the new copy. Just like the amoeba. See also my blog of 15 Oct. 2010.
You could force there to be only one Robby consciousness by upgrading the old system “one transistor at a time,” the consciousness will then just slowly adapt (change) with each “transistor changeout.” After the upgrade Robby’s consciousness will not be the same as before. You’ve not simply moved it into a new computer. The consciousness will be changed a lot if the hardware is changed a lot. The upgrade is an experience and experiences change you. Even tugs that are confined to the periphery of a knowledge web can change the web to its core. Even in our brief human lives at what point have we changed so much that we are no longer the same person?
Neither should we be equating “me-ness” with consciousness. The rest of the concept web and software is part of what makes “me” “me.” I believe that the unconscious parts of my mind do some of my best work.The hardware is also part of what makes “me” “me.”
To obtain AI immortality I suppose you could just replace “transistors” (and any other sufficiently small scale components) as they age and do no (or at least very gradual) upgrading. This might buy immortality at the price of obsolescence and you would still face the issue in my 15 Oct. 2010 blog. Forgetting is an important kind of learning. We shouldn't keep out of date ideas/patterns as the world changes.
Death just allows for larger scale more rapid change. Nature thought it was a good idea.
* Say the one in my blog of 21 July 2016.
** Experiments actually find that the system crashes if the changes are too extreme!
*** I'm going to use MY model of what consciousness is. See my blog of 19 Oct. 2016. Having developed a detailed theory of thought, mind, and consciousness (Asa H) makes this kind of philosophical work possible.
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