The future of artificial intelligence in clinical nutrition

Artificial intelligence has reached the clinical nutrition field. To perform personalized medicine, numerous tools can be used. In this review, we describe how the physician can utilize the growing healthcare databases to develop deep learning and machine learning algorithms, thus helping to improve screening, assessment, prediction of clinical events and outcomes related to clinical nutrition.

Artificial intelligence can be applied to all the fields of clinical nutrition. Improving screening tools, identifying malnourished cancer patients or obesity using large databases has been achieved. In intensive care, machine learning has been able to predict enteral feeding intolerance, diarrhea, or refeeding hypophosphatemia. The outcome of patients with cancer can also be improved. Microbiota and metabolomics profiles are better integrated with the clinical condition using machine learning. However, ethical considerations and limitations of the use of artificial intelligence should be considered.

Artificial intelligence is here to support the decision-making process of health professionals. Knowing not only its limitations but also its power will allow precision medicine in clinical nutrition as well as in the rest of the medical practice.