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As the third and final installment of the Newcomers series marches toward publication (Intelligent Things, due on May 1, 2019), I am working on a completely different approach to psychological sci-fi, or psi-fi. I am  succumbing to the cliché of the little green space alien.

The Newcomers series featured a pair of extremely advanced AI androids, Robin and Andy, who were almost indiscriminable from humans. The question they always raised was, is there an important distinction between natural and artificial consciousness? Or stated another way, could the human mind be implemented in a machine?

In my new novel, Alien Body, the main character is a little green man from outer space. There is no question about him being human. He’s shaped like a green beach ball and looks like an M&M cartoon character. Nobody is fooled into thinking he’s human, and that’s the point.

The Newcomers, as AI androids, were deceptions from the start. They looked like humans and talked like humans. You were supposed to believe they were humans and gradually discover the ways in which they were not. Fundamentally, that is the principle behind the famous Turing Test.

If you look like a green beach ball with eyes on writhing tentacles, the prototype of the Turing Test is off. It’s definitely a space alien. What’s the psi-fi puzzle there?

The puzzle is his body. Is the design of the body relevant to consciousness? In scientific and philosophical discussions, it is sometimes said that the embodiment of consciousness is a mere implementation detail. Human consciousness happens to be implemented in a brain, but if the brain’s functionality could be duplicated with beer cans and ping-pong balls, that would support consciousness just as well. Okay then, what about a green beach ball?

I hated to give in to a classic sci-fi cliche like a little green man from outer space, but on the other hand, my alien character makes my point, and he’s so outlandish that it’s easy to inject a shot of humor into the story along the way.