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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Cooks, Fast Food?
Task-level automation exposure for Cooks, Fast Food: 20 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
15%
weighted task index
20 of 20 tasks scored
Median Salary
$30,890 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
641,070 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+0.6%
employment change
86,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 53 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$21,690 – $48,120
Highest medians
Hawaii $48,120
District of Columbia $44,670
California $42,050
Washington $39,120
New Hampshire $38,590
Lowest medians
Guam $21,690
Puerto Rico $22,640
Mississippi $22,670
West Virginia $23,120
Kentucky $23,500
State figures come from the 35-2011 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 15%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 77%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 3%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 6%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 11/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
20 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 9%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 3%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 88%
17 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#5058 · Core · 6% automatable
Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#5053 · Core · 10% automatable
Maintain sanitation, health, and safety standards in work areas.
physical manipulation — Food area cleaning requires physical labor
Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.
#5054 · Core · 10% automatable
Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils.
physical manipulation — Food area cleaning requires physical labor
Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.
#5055 · Core · 6% automatable
Operate large-volume cooking equipment, such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#5057 · Core · 70% automatable
Take food and drink orders and receive payment from customers.
data analysis — Billing and payment processing largely automated
Process customer bills or payments. Take customer orders.
#5062 · Core · 6% automatable
Cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#5065 · Core · 6% automatable
Prepare specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#5056 · Core · 20% automatable
Verify that prepared food meets requirements for quality and quantity.
visual inspection — Food/supply quality check is sensory and physical
Check quality of foods or supplies.
#5063 · Core · 4% automatable
Serve orders to customers at windows, counters, or tables.
physical manipulation — Carrying and serving food by hand
Serve food or beverages.
#5059 · Core · 5% automatable
Wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking.
physical manipulation — Manual food preparation
Prepare foods for cooking or serving.
#5064 · Core · 8% automatable
Clean, stock, and restock workstations and display cases.
physical manipulation — Physically stocking serving stations and dining areas
Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
#5061 · Core · 6% automatable
Cook and package batches of food, such as hamburgers or fried chicken, prepared to order or kept warm until sold.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#5060 · Core · 25% automatable
Measure ingredients required for specific food items.
physical manipulation — Physical measuring of ingredients by hand
Measure ingredients.
#5071 · Core · 6% automatable
Pre-cook items, such as bacon, to prepare them for later use.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#24041 · Core · 5% automatable
Take out garbage.
physical manipulation — Physical collection and removal of trash
Remove trash. Dispose of trash or waste materials.
#5068 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Prepare and serve beverages, such as coffee or fountain drinks.
physical manipulation — Hands-on beverage prep in unpredictable kitchen space
Serve food or beverages. Prepare hot or cold beverages.
#5066 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Prepare dough, following recipe.
physical manipulation — Dough handling is tactile physical craft
Prepare breads or doughs.
#5070 · Supplemental · 75% automatable
Order and take delivery of supplies.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#5067 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Schedule activities and equipment use with managers, using information about daily menus to help coordinate cooking times.
decision support — Timing coordination aided by AI; kitchen execution human
Coordinate timing of food production activities.
#5069 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Mix ingredients, such as pancake or waffle batters.
physical manipulation — Physical mixing of ingredients by hand
Mix ingredients.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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