Iain Banks already wrote this for you, it's called Excession, and it is even better than you imagine.
I'm pretty sure the concept comes up in other Culture Novels but one of the main characters in Excession is the Sleeper Service, a ship which does precisely this.
>it's called Excession, and it is even better than you imagine.
I'd advise not startin with Excession but with Player of Games. Read from there. You'll get to Excession on time with plenty of background knowledge of how stuff works.
Reading Excession as book 1 will leave you ultra confused.
I'm pretty sure the concept comes up in other Culture Novels but one of the main characters in Excession is the Sleeper Service, a ship which does precisely this.