Well, today it may sound like science fiction, but there are already numerous scientists underway working on real-life solutions. Perhaps the most well-known is Ray Kurzweil. Have a look at the Wikipedia entry for "mind-uploading":
Mind uploading (also occasionally referred to by other terms such as mind transfer or whole brain emulation) refers to the hypothetical transfer of a human mind to an artificial substrate, such as a computer simulation.
Thinkers with a strongly mechanistic view of human intelligence (such as Marvin Minsky) or a strongly positive view of robot-human social integration (such as Hans Moravec and Ray Kurzweil) have openly speculated about the possibility and desirability of this. In the case where the mind is transferred into a computer, the subject would become a form of artificial intelligence, sometimes called an infomorph.
In a case where it is transferred into an artificial body, to which its consciousness is confined, it would also become a robot. In either case it might claim ordinary human rights, certainly if the consciousness within was feeling (or was doing a good job of simulating) as if it were the donor.
Uploading consciousness into bodies created by robotic means is a goal of some in the artificial intelligence community. In the uploading scenario, the physical human brain does not move from its original body into a new robotic shell; rather, the consciousness is assumed to be recorded and/or transferred to a new robotic brain, which generates responses indistinguishable from the original organic brain.
The idea of uploading human consciousness in this manner raises many philosophical questions which people may find interesting and disturbing, such as matters of individuality and the soul.
Take a look at this page on my website
www.meet-matt-browne.com/whatif-fht.html
and you will see for yourself that humans have always challenged the status quo and will continue to do so in the future. Embark on an adventurous journey beginning in the year 1400 and ending in the year 2100...
Safe travel!
