Community Sentiment
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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria?
Task-level automation exposure for Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria: 17 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
32%
weighted task index
17 of 17 tasks scored
Median Salary
$37,450 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
441,050 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+2.8%
employment change
62,900 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$25,490 – $49,670
Highest medians
Washington $49,670
Alaska $48,580
Massachusetts $47,790
Hawaii $47,770
Rhode Island $46,570
Lowest medians
Louisiana $25,490
Puerto Rico $26,260
Alabama $27,120
Mississippi $27,390
Oklahoma $29,270
State figures come from the 35-2012 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 32%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 48%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 20%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 12%
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 27/100
Moderate
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
17 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) 20%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 21%
4 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 60%
9 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
#21148 · Core · 46% automatable
Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Monitor food services operations to ensure procedures are followed. Inspect facilities, equipment or supplies to ensure conformance to standards. Record operational or production data.
#9488 · Core · 6% automatable
Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#21149 · Core · 30% automatable
Rotate and store food supplies.
data analysis — Inventory tracking and reorder logic largely automatable
Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations. Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas. Maintain food, beverage, or equipment inventories.
#9491 · Core · 7% automatable
Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment.
physical manipulation — Hands-on dishwashing of physical tableware
Clean tableware.
#9487 · Core · 4% automatable
Apportion and serve food to facility residents, employees, or patrons.
physical manipulation — Carrying and serving food by hand
Serve food or beverages.
#9486 · Core · 16% automatable
Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
visual inspection — Physical conformance inspection of facilities/equipment
Inspect facilities, equipment or supplies to ensure conformance to standards. Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.
#9489 · Core · 5% automatable
Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
physical manipulation — Hands-on food cutting
Cut cooked or raw foods. Prepare foods for cooking or serving.
#9493 · Core · 30% automatable
Direct activities of one or more workers who assist in preparing and serving meals.
interpersonal — Coordinating food service staff is live supervisory work
Coordinate activities of food service staff.
#9495 · Core · 30% automatable
Train new employees.
physical manipulation — Food prep training is hands-on demonstration
Train food preparation or food service personnel.
#9496 · Core · 72% automatable
Take inventory of supplies and equipment.
data analysis — Inventory tracking and reorder logic largely automatable
Maintain food, beverage, or equipment inventories.
#9499 · Core · 75% automatable
Requisition food supplies, kitchen equipment, and appliances, based on estimates of future needs.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#9494 · Core · 6% automatable
Bake breads, rolls, or other pastries.
physical manipulation — Dough handling is tactile physical craft
Prepare breads or doughs.
#9490 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Monitor use of government food commodities to ensure that proper procedures are followed.
visual inspection — Procedure compliance in kitchens requires on-site human observation
Monitor food services operations to ensure procedures are followed.
#9498 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Plan menus that are varied, nutritionally balanced, and appetizing, taking advantage of foods in season and local availability.
text generation — Menu drafts aided; cost and kitchen constraints human
Plan menu options.
#9497 · Supplemental · 35% automatable
Monitor menus and spending to ensure that meals are prepared economically.
visual inspection — Procedure compliance in kitchens requires on-site human observation
Monitor food services operations to ensure procedures are followed.
#9492 · Supplemental · 82% automatable
Compile and maintain records of food use and expenditures.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
#9500 · Supplemental · 68% automatable
Determine meal prices, based on calculations of ingredient prices.
decision support — Menu pricing aided; owner decides strategy
Determine prices for menu items.
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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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