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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers?
Task-level automation exposure for Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers: 23 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
13%
weighted task index
23 of 23 tasks scored
Median Salary
$33,980 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
542,750 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+5.3%
employment change
95,300 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.
$21,550 – $51,760
Highest medians
Virgin Islands $51,760
Hawaii $51,200
Washington $41,420
District of Columbia $39,080
Maine $38,560
Lowest medians
Texas $21,550
Guam $21,720
Puerto Rico $22,450
Alabama $22,470
Mississippi $23,180
State figures come from the 35-9011 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 13%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 85%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 5%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 5%
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 5/100
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
23 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) 5%
1 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 5%
1 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 90%
21 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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 08/2021 · Incumbent
Prepare food, such as sandwiches, for customers.
Constituent Tasks
#11178 · Core · 20% automatable
Run cash registers.
physical manipulation — Operating a physical cash register with hands
Operate cash registers.
#11169 · Core · 4% automatable
Serve ice water, coffee, rolls, or butter to patrons.
physical manipulation — Carrying and serving food by hand
Serve food or beverages.
#11165 · Core · 5% automatable
Scrape and stack dirty dishes and carry dishes and other tableware to kitchens for cleaning.
physical manipulation — Collecting dishes requires hands-on bussing
Collect dirty dishes or other tableware.
#11163 · Core · 5% automatable
Wipe tables or seats with dampened cloths or replace dirty tablecloths.
physical manipulation — Physical cleaning of food service surfaces
Clean food service areas.
#11164 · Core · 5% automatable
Set tables with clean linens, condiments, or other supplies.
physical manipulation — Physically arranging tables and furniture
Arrange tables or dining areas.
#23929 · Core · 12% automatable
Greet and seat customers.
interpersonal — Physical presence greeting customers
Usher patrons to seats or exits. Greet customers, patrons, or visitors. Assist customers to ensure comfort or safety.
#11166 · Core · 5% automatable
Clean up spilled food or drink or broken dishes and remove empty bottles and trash.
physical manipulation — Collecting dishes requires hands-on bussing
Collect dirty dishes or other tableware.
#11168 · Core · 72% automatable
Maintain adequate supplies of items, such as clean linens, silverware, glassware, dishes, or trays.
data analysis — Inventory tracking and reorder logic largely automatable
Maintain food, beverage, or equipment inventories.
#11172 · Core · 55% automatable
Locate items requested by customers.
information retrieval — General info answers assisted; live service human
Provide customers with general information or assistance.
#11170 · Core · 8% automatable
Fill beverage or ice dispensers.
physical manipulation — Physically stocking serving stations and dining areas
Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
#11173 · Core · 9% automatable
Carry food, dishes, trays, or silverware from kitchens or supply departments to serving counters.
physical manipulation — Hands-on moving of supplies to locations
Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations.
#11167 · Core · 6% automatable
Perform serving, cleaning, or stocking duties in establishments, such as cafeterias or dining rooms, to facilitate customer service.
physical manipulation — Moving goods in kitchens and storage areas
Clean facilities or work areas. Serve food or beverages. Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas.
#11176 · Core · 9% automatable
Carry trays from food counters to tables for cafeteria patrons.
physical manipulation — Hands-on moving of supplies to locations
Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations.
#11171 · Core · 8% automatable
Stock cabinets or serving areas with condiments and refill condiment containers.
physical manipulation — Physically stocking serving stations and dining areas
Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
#11174 · Core · 4% automatable
Serve food to customers when waiters or waitresses need assistance.
physical manipulation — Carrying and serving food by hand
Serve food or beverages.
#11175 · Core · 8% automatable
Clean and polish counters, shelves, walls, furniture, or equipment in food service areas or other areas of restaurants and mop or vacuum floors.
physical manipulation — Food area cleaning requires physical labor
Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment. Clean food service areas.
#11177 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Replenish supplies of food or equipment at steam tables or service bars.
physical manipulation — Physically stocking serving stations and dining areas
Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
#11179 · Supplemental · 7% automatable
Wash glasses or other serving equipment at bars.
physical manipulation — Hands-on dishwashing of physical tableware
Clean tableware.
#11181 · Supplemental · 9% automatable
Carry linens to or from laundry areas.
physical manipulation — Hands-on moving of supplies to locations
Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations.
#11180 · Supplemental · 6% automatable
Garnish foods and position them on tables to make them visible and accessible.
physical manipulation — Plating food is fine manual dexterity
Add garnishes to food. Arrange food for serving.
#11183 · Supplemental · 12% automatable
Mix and prepare flavors for mixed drinks.
physical manipulation — Physical mixing of ingredients by hand
Mix ingredients.
#11184 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Slice and pit fruit used to garnish drinks.
physical manipulation — Hands-on food cutting
Cut cooked or raw foods.
#11182 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Stock refrigerating units with wines or bottled beer or replace empty beer kegs.
physical manipulation — Moving goods in kitchens and storage areas
Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas.
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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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