Beyond technology: Scientific taste and judgment in nutritional science

Nutritional science is entering an era of unprecedented technological possibilities. Artificial intelligence, multi-omics, and precision nutrition are expanding our ability to generate and integrate information, but not necessarily our ability to understand what matters. In this Perspective, I reflect on the qualities that define a great nutritional scientist in this changing landscape, drawing on experiences accumulated throughout my career in clinical and nutritional research. I argue that scientific taste, understood as the ability to recognize important questions, choose methods that serve them, and distinguish meaningful findings from statistical or biological signals, is becoming increasingly important. I discuss the challenges of moving from association to causation, determining whether precision nutrition genuinely improves health, and interpreting increasingly complex data and artificial intelligence. Scientific progress also requires intellectual humility, learning from failure, and communicating uncertainty responsibly. Finally, I reflect on scientific leadership and mentorship as essential contributions to the future of our discipline. The most enduring legacy of a scientist may not be the number of publications or the sophistication of the tools used, but the people helped to become independent scientists and the questions they are encouraged to pursue. Technology can increase the power of science. Scientific taste determines where that power should be directed.