By Ellie Haberl; Illustrated by Stuart Sachs
Buzzzzz. Buzzzzz. Buzzzzz. Michael’s phone slid across his bedside table as it rang. He could see right away that something was wrong: an unfamiliar orange glow surrounded the screen, casting a halo of foreboding light. As he brought the phone closer, he saw that his home screen had been replaced with a large neon orange box and a text message from the government’s Covid-20 notification center.
CovidAlert: Code Orange. On March 22 at 1:02 PM at Garfield Park, near the west entrance of the park, you played basketball with a person, number 42607, who has tested positive for Covid-20. As a result, your status has been updated to a level 3, CODE ORANGE. We will track you through your phone to make sure you are staying quarantined. You will be fined if you leave your residence. Do not use public transportation or visit any public places during your quarantine. Take your temperature twice a day using the electronic thermometer that is in your testing kit. We will track this data daily. If you need medical assistance, text us and we will tell you where you can get treatment. Thank you for complying with these guidelines. YOU are an important part of the solution. We can end community spread of the virus if we work together.
Michael felt sick to his stomach. He felt frantic, as though he couldn’t decide the next action to take.
His girlfriend had begged him not to go to the park that day, but basketball was his lifeline. The months of social distancing made him feel terrified and isolated. As soon as distancing requirements were relaxed, he scheduled a basketball game with his friends. Playing basketball made him feel less alone.
Michael read the text message once more, slowly this time. He remembered the first time he read those words, sitting alongside a team of experts in artificial intelligence. The company he worked for as a computer programming intern had been instrumental in designing artificial intelligence algorithms that used cutting edge facial recognition to identify people in a crowd and to monitor people’s temperatures from a distance. This technology allowed the government to use contact tracing to inform people if they interacted with someone who tested positive for Covid-20. He felt so useful knowing that the models he helped to build had been protecting vulnerable populations and slowing the spread of the virus.
Michael felt dread as he heard his phone’s buzz again, this time with a text from his girlfriend.
Jess234: Michael, I told you not to go to the game that day. I’m so angry with you. We need to take a break.
He wrote back, in protest.
Bball123: I know. I’m sorry. I’m scared. Please forgive me…
Jess234: You have to take this seriously. Don’t leave the house. I’ll help you. But this upsets me. I need a little time to process it.
Bzzzz. The sound filled Michael with dread. He glanced down and saw five more texts from friends, cousins, and his dad.
Michael was puzzled, “Oh, man. What is this? What is happening? How does everyone know?” He couldn’t believe that the notification system had contacted so many people to tell them that he had been exposed. When he saw one from his boss he froze in disbelief:
TechPro: Michael, we got the alert. We’ve reassigned your role on the team just in case you are unable to complete the task. We’re sorry. Take good care of yourself. Good luck.
Michael squinted his eyes. He had worked so hard to land this internship. This wasn’t fair! He had believed in the need for the facial recognition project, but now he wondered if they had gone too far. Had everyone agreed to trade in their privacy for safety?
Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz. He could see that his phone was illuminated by the orange glow again.
CovidAlert: Michael, we will send you links to resources that will help you monitor your health, and take care of yourself. By staying home, you will protect hundreds of lives. You are not alone. We are a team working together to end this pandemic and we will help you get through this.
Michael started to cry. Suddenly, he didn’t feel so alone. But a part of him wondered, were they really going to be there for him or were they just trying to keep him calm and at home? Either way, he knew what he had to do. He began responding to his friends. The CovidAlert text was right: he wasn’t alone.
Word Count: 979
Developed by AI Ethics Project 2020. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Citation: Haberl, E. (2020). Code Orange Short Version. V.1.0. Illustrated by S. Sachs. In B.Dalton and T. Yeh (Eds.), AI Stories Series. Available INSERT URL.
Acknowledgement: This work is supported by National Science Foundation Stem+C Award #1934151 to T. Yeh, S. Forsyth and B. Dalton, University of Colorado Boulder.
