Europe PMC
Monthly counts of biology and medicine research naming AI methods, since 2015: bioRxiv and medRxiv preprints, PubMed papers, four laboratory control methods, and AI's share of each corpus.
All three collections grew a lot since 2015, so the counts rise for that reason too — read the share charts instead.
AI share of biology preprints derived
7.2% −8.7% yr as of Jul 2026
Corpus size
The size of each collection. Every share chart divides by one of these three counts.
All bioRxiv preprints
4.7k +15.4% yr as of Jul 2026
All medRxiv preprints
1.6k +33.6% yr as of Jul 2026
All PubMed records
139k −9.4% yr as of Jul 2026
AI methods in biology preprints
These charts count abstracts that name the method. One preprint can name several methods, so never add the charts together.
Any AI method named
334 +5.4% yr as of Jul 2026
"machine learning"
127 −3.1% yr as of Jul 2026
"deep learning"
91 −5.2% yr as of Jul 2026
"neural network"
39 −20.4% yr as of Jul 2026
Large language models
16 −20.0% yr as of Jul 2026
"transformer"
22 −18.5% yr as of Jul 2026
"foundation model"
31 +416.7% yr as of Jul 2026
Generative models
17 +13.3% yr as of Jul 2026
Structure, design and screening
What researchers use AI for. One preprint can name several of these methods, so never add the charts together.
AlphaFold
28 −3.4% yr as of Jul 2026
Protein language models
24 +100.0% yr as of Jul 2026
Molecular docking
19 +5.6% yr as of Jul 2026
Protein design
22 +37.5% yr as of Jul 2026
Virtual screening
13 +160.0% yr as of Jul 2026
Control methods
Controls: laboratory methods with no AI in them. They show how much of the growth is only bioRxiv getting bigger.
RNA-seq
109 +39.7% yr as of Jul 2026
Mass spectrometry
128 +42.2% yr as of Jul 2026
CRISPR
145 +42.2% yr as of Jul 2026
Cryo-EM
56 +27.3% yr as of Jul 2026
Clinical preprints (medRxiv)
medRxiv opened in June 2019, so these charts start there.
Any AI method named
237 +60.1% yr as of Jul 2026
"deep learning"
51 +64.5% yr as of Jul 2026
Large language models
46 +64.3% yr as of Jul 2026
Published biomedical literature (PubMed)
Any AI method named
7.5k −6.7% yr as of Jul 2026
"artificial intelligence"
2.5k +12.6% yr as of Jul 2026
"deep learning"
1.6k −24.1% yr as of Jul 2026
Large language models
447 +60.8% yr as of Jul 2026
ChatGPT
224 −10.4% yr as of Jul 2026
CRISPR
733 −3.2% yr as of Jul 2026
Share
These shares count abstracts that name a method. A paper that uses AI without naming it does not count.
CRISPR share of biology preprints derived
3.1% +23.0% yr as of Jul 2026
AI share of clinical preprints derived
14.7% +19.9% yr as of Jul 2026
AI share of published biomedicine derived
5.4% +3.1% yr as of Jul 2026
Figures
| Series | Latest | Change | Min | Max | Coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All bioRxiv preprints | 4.7k | +15.4% yr | 88 | 5.2k | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| All medRxiv preprints | 1.6k | +33.6% yr | 33 | 2.1k | Jun 2019 — Jul 2026 |
| All PubMed records | 139k | −9.4% yr | 79.0k | 165k | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Any AI method named | 334 | +5.4% yr | 0 | 417 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "machine learning" | 127 | −3.1% yr | 0 | 164 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "deep learning" | 91 | −5.2% yr | 0 | 119 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "neural network" | 39 | −20.4% yr | 0 | 69 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Large language models | 16 | −20.0% yr | 0 | 41 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "transformer" | 22 | −18.5% yr | 0 | 53 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "foundation model" | 31 | +416.7% yr | 0 | 31 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Generative models | 17 | +13.3% yr | 0 | 17 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| AlphaFold | 28 | −3.4% yr | 0 | 42 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Protein language models | 24 | +100.0% yr | 0 | 26 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Molecular docking | 19 | +5.6% yr | 0 | 26 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Protein design | 22 | +37.5% yr | 0 | 23 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Virtual screening | 13 | +160.0% yr | 0 | 13 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| RNA-seq | 109 | +39.7% yr | 3 | 138 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Mass spectrometry | 128 | +42.2% yr | 0 | 138 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| CRISPR | 145 | +42.2% yr | 0 | 145 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Cryo-EM | 56 | +27.3% yr | 0 | 67 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Any AI method named | 237 | +60.1% yr | 2 | 237 | Jun 2019 — Jul 2026 |
| "deep learning" | 51 | +64.5% yr | 0 | 51 | Jun 2019 — Jul 2026 |
| Large language models | 46 | +64.3% yr | 0 | 60 | Jun 2019 — Jul 2026 |
| Any AI method named | 7.5k | −6.7% yr | 168 | 8.4k | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "artificial intelligence" | 2.5k | +12.6% yr | 3 | 2.7k | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| "deep learning" | 1.6k | −24.1% yr | 2 | 2.2k | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| Large language models | 447 | +60.8% yr | 0 | 489 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| ChatGPT | 224 | −10.4% yr | 0 | 316 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| CRISPR | 733 | −3.2% yr | 59 | 842 | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| AI share of biology preprints | 7.2% | −8.7% yr | 0% | 8.5% | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| CRISPR share of biology preprints | 3.1% | +23.0% yr | 0% | 3.3% | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |
| AI share of clinical preprints | 14.7% | +19.9% yr | 3.5% | 15.7% | Jun 2019 — Jul 2026 |
| AI share of published biomedicine | 5.4% | +3.1% yr | 0.2% | 5.5% | Jan 2015 — Jul 2026 |