You wake up with a fever, cough, and wonder: Do I need to see a doctor, or is it enough to stay home? Making this exact decision is often difficult, especially because many primary care practices are overloaded. A new project from Linz wants to help here: An AI is supposed to assess your symptoms and tell you how urgent a doctor's visit really is.
What the AI general practitioner „MIND“ is supposed to do differently
Instead of relying purely on guessing symptoms, the team combines machine learning with symbolic AI and medical logic – plus simple home diagnostics. Translated: Symptoms, vital signs, and results from common home tests are combined and condensed into a comprehensible initial assessment. No black box, but explainable decisions that, if necessary, provide targeted referrals – to a doctor's office, emergency contacts, or simply: wait and see.
What does the system aim for?
First, to what fills clinics most often: common colds and related respiratory diseases – as well as high blood pressure. That is precisely where MIND aims to relieve doctors so they have time for truly urgent cases. Project manager Dr. Medina Hamidovic (Institute for Communications Engineering and RF-Systems at JKU) sums it up: „Reduce unnecessary doctor visits, give patients peace of mind – and noticeably relieve the burden on the healthcare system.“
MIND made in Austria
Perhaps the most important twist: MIND is built for Austria. Regionally conceived, connected to the domestic healthcare system, and adapted to the digital health literacy of the people in this country. Not an import from Silicon Valley, but „Made in Austria.“ That is not only politically chic, but practical: pathways, responsibilities, and care realities differ—an AI that knows this logic makes better decisions.
An interdisciplinary team is behind the project: alongside Hamidovic as head, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erika Zelko (Institute of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine at JKU) is co-head. On board are experts from medicine, machine learning, symbolic AI, and digital medicine – including Univ.-Prof. Dr. Martina Seidl, Dr. Roya Khanzadeh, Dr. med. Julia Fuger, and Univ.-Prof. Dr. Helmut Salzer (JKU / Kepler University Hospital Linz). The mission: bringing together technology, medicine, and society – with a strong anchorage in Upper Austria.
Hard Facts: The launch is on April 1, 2026, with a duration of two years. MIND is being funded with 250,000 euros from the JKU funding program Lift_C. The goal is a prototype that is safe, traceable, and suitable for everyday use. Following that, a clinical version could follow—either in another project or as a spin-off of JKU.
Does the AI family doctor sound like something out of science fiction?
Sure. But it is also a message to a system under pressure: regionalized digital initial check-ups that respect medical logic can make the difference—between overcrowded waiting rooms and targeted care. That leaves the big question: Can AI replace empathy? No. If MIND delivers on what it promises, it doesn't replace the doctor's visit—it makes it possible where it is truly needed.
More about the Lift_C funding program
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