Covid-19 has changed the course of healthcare for the foreseeable future. Healthcare workers, doctors' rooms, and equipment inventories were stretched thin even before the pandemic took hold, with patients waiting weeks or months to get a doctor's appointment or book a surgery. Today, these resources are nearing the breaking point. With physicians' offices and testing facilities closed for in-person appointments, and elective surgeries put on hold, it has become incredibly complicated for patients to find the care they need for pre-existing or non-Covid-19 health issues. They might not be able to see their usual doctor or maybe they're simply trying to find a provider for the first time.

Facebook is developing technology that could soon make it possible to read your mind. CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailed how the Silicon Valley giant is researching a'brain-computer interface' in an interview with Harvard law school professor Jonathan Zittrain, according to Wired. In the near future, this system would allow users to interact with augmented reality environments using just their brain - no keyboards, touchscreens or hand gestures required. Facebook is developing technology that could soon make it possible to read your mind. CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailed how the firm is researching a'brain-computer interface' The concept that Zuckerberg envisions would allow users to navigate menus, move objects in an AR room or even type words with their brain.

The greatest problem we have is access to care. According to the CDC, nearly 20% of adults in the United States have no regular source of healthcare. One of the places this is most stark is in lifespan – where the wealthiest Americans have benefits from steady gains, about five years of additional longevity from 2000-2014 – versus the poorest, for whom, during the same period, life expectancy hasn't changed at all. There are many factors that contribute to this growing divide in mortality, socioeconomic and medical – but one of the biggest is simply not enough physicians in the right places. The best doctors and providers are drawn to similar circumstances: top hospitals, with the top tier of colleagues, in the most desirable places to live, with patients that can pay for services.

The greatest problem we have is access to care. According to the CDC, nearly 20% of adults in the United States have no regular source of healthcare. One of the places this is most stark is in lifespan -- where the wealthiest Americans have benefits from steady gains, about five years of additional longevity from 2000-2014 -- versus the poorest, for whom, during the same period, life expectancy hasn't changed at all. There are many factors that contribute to this growing divide in mortality, socioeconomic and medical -- but one of the biggest is simply not enough physicians in the right places. The best doctors and providers are drawn to similar circumstances: top hospitals, with the top tier of colleagues, in the most desirable places to live, with patients that can pay for services.

How did you first get started in the international health insurance industry, and how did you come to be in your current role? My first job was for broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson, where I gravitated towards the Accident and Health division, focusing mainly on international risk. Over the years, I have worked in a number of strategic business development roles for some of the leading insurance businesses including Lloyd's and Aon. When headhunted for this role, I was aware of second medical opinion services and Best Doctors – it felt like the perfect opportunity, not only to be involved with a leading provider in the sector but also to be involved in a market that had such potential for growth and still has. In addition, having had a family member with a serious medical condition, I could see the value proposition and I liked the idea of helping to make a difference for other families in similar situations.

This episode of Fast Forward was recorded in the IBM Watson Experience Center here in New York City. My guest was Rob High, the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of IBM Watson. High works across multiple teams within IBM, including engineering, development, and strategy. He is one of the most lucid thinkers in the space of artificial intelligence, and our conversation covered many of the way that technology is reshaping our jobs, our society and our lives. Read and watch our conversation below. Dan Costa: What is the dominant misconception that people have about artificial intelligence? Rob High: I think the most common problem that we're running into with people talking about AI is they still live in the world where I think Hollywood has amplified this idea that cognitive computing, AI, is about replicating the human mind, and it's really not. Things like the Turing test tend to reinforce that what we're measuring is the idea of AI being able to compete with fooling people into believing that what you're dealing with is another human being, but that's really not been where we have found the greatest utility. This even goes back to, if you look at almost every other tool that has ever been created, our tools tend to be most valuable when they're amplifying us, when they're extending our reach, when they're increasing our strength, when they're allowing us to do things that we can't do by ourselves as human beings. That's really the way that we need to be thinking about AI as well, and to the extent that we actually call it augmented intelligence, not artificial intelligence.

Every year billions of people visit sites like WebMD or NIH to find health information. However, a company called HealthTap wants to help you take your at home health care to the next level. HealthTap uses Artificial Intelligence and computer technology to give personalized recommendations on how to treat your symptoms, illnesses, and even tells you when it's time to see a doctor in person. HealthTap CEO Ron Gutman discussed how his company incorporated Artificial Intelligence into its mission to improve the standard of healthcare. "We created in the background this very valuable knowledge base and training set to help us now understand how to answer peoples' questions and direct them to the right level of care. So basically we're using Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to take this data and direct people to the right care, at the right time, at the right cost," he said.