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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers?
Task-level automation exposure for First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers: 26 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
45%
weighted task index
26 of 26 tasks scored
Median Salary
$44,080 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
1,223,240 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+5.4%
employment change
171,500 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.
$27,310 – $59,400
Highest medians
Washington $59,400
District of Columbia $57,170
Connecticut $52,940
Colorado $50,550
Vermont $49,820
Lowest medians
Guam $27,310
Puerto Rico $28,420
West Virginia $33,070
Arkansas $33,800
Oklahoma $35,420
State figures come from the 35-1012 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 45%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 8%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 59%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 8%
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 7/100
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
26 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) 25%
7 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 38%
10 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 38%
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
#2145 · Core · 50% automatable
Resolve customer complaints regarding food service.
interpersonal — Satisfaction requires human relationship and accountability
Communicate with customers to resolve complaints or ensure satisfaction.
#2146 · Core · 30% automatable
Train workers in food preparation, and in service, sanitation, and safety procedures.
physical manipulation — Food prep training is hands-on demonstration
Train food preparation or food service personnel.
#2150 · Core · 30% automatable
Assign duties, responsibilities, and work stations to employees in accordance with work requirements.
interpersonal — Coordinating food service staff is live supervisory work
Coordinate activities of food service staff.
#2157 · Core · 70% automatable
Present bills and accept payments.
data analysis — Billing and payment processing largely automated
Process customer bills or payments.
#18714 · Core · 28% automatable
Perform various financial activities, such as cash handling, deposit preparation, and payroll.
interpersonal — Food service management is live operational leadership
Manage food service operations or parts of operations.
#18715 · Core · 10% automatable
Supervise and participate in kitchen and dining area cleaning activities.
physical manipulation — Food area cleaning requires physical labor
Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment.
#2155 · Core · 45% automatable
Recommend measures for improving work procedures and worker performance to increase service quality and enhance job safety.
decision support — Broad HR work needs human judgment and accountability
Perform human resources activities.
#2154 · Core · 40% automatable
Specify food portions and courses, production and time sequences, and workstation and equipment arrangements.
decision support — Timing coordination aided by AI; kitchen execution human
Coordinate timing of food production activities.
#2148 · Core · 72% automatable
Control inventories of food, equipment, smallware, and liquor, and report shortages to designated personnel.
data analysis — Inventory tracking and reorder logic largely automatable
Maintain food, beverage, or equipment inventories.
#18716 · Core · 40% automatable
Observe and evaluate workers and work procedures to ensure quality standards and service, and complete disciplinary write-ups.
decision support — Broad HR work needs human judgment and accountability
Monitor food services operations to ensure procedures are followed. Perform human resources activities.
#2153 · Core · 28% automatable
Analyze operational problems, such as theft and wastage, and establish procedures to alleviate these problems.
interpersonal — Food service management is live operational leadership
Manage food service operations or parts of operations.
#2147 · Core · 22% automatable
Inspect supplies, equipment, and work areas to ensure efficient service and conformance to standards.
visual inspection — Physical conformance inspection of facilities/equipment
Inspect facilities, equipment or supplies to ensure conformance to standards.
#2156 · Core · 30% automatable
Greet and seat guests, and present menus and wine lists.
interpersonal — Menu presentation is live service interaction
Present food or beverage information or menus to customers. Assist customers with seating arrangements.
#2167 · Core · 45% automatable
Evaluate new products for usefulness and suitability.
visual inspection — Material quality often needs hands-on or visual inspection
Evaluate quality of materials or products.
#2144 · Supplemental · 80% automatable
Compile and balance cash receipts at the end of the day or shift.
data analysis — Balancing receipts is arithmetic, human handles discrepancies
Balance receipts.
#2158 · Supplemental · 58% automatable
Forecast staff, equipment, and supply requirements, based on a master menu.
data analysis — Food prep estimates from menus; chef adjusts
Estimate supplies, ingredients, or staff requirements for food preparation activities.
#18721 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Assess nutritional needs of patients, plan special menus, supervise the assembly of regular and special diet trays, and oversee the delivery of food trolleys to hospital patients.
text generation — Menu drafts aided; cost and kitchen constraints human
Plan menu options.
#18719 · Supplemental · 82% automatable
Record production, operational, and personnel data on specified forms.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
#18717 · Supplemental · 38% automatable
Perform personnel actions, such as hiring and firing staff, providing employee orientation and training, and conducting supervisory activities, such as creating work schedules or organizing employee time sheets.
decision support — Broad HR work needs human judgment and accountability
Train food preparation or food service personnel. Perform human resources activities.
#2151 · Supplemental · 58% automatable
Estimate ingredients and supplies required to prepare a recipe.
data analysis — Food prep estimates from menus; chef adjusts
Estimate supplies, ingredients, or staff requirements for food preparation activities.
#2161 · Supplemental · 75% automatable
Purchase or requisition supplies and equipment needed to ensure quality and timely delivery of services.
decision support — Ordering via systems automatable; human approves spend
Order materials, supplies, or equipment.
#18718 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Perform food preparation and serving duties, such as carving meat, preparing flambe dishes, or serving wine and liquor.
physical manipulation — Hands-on food cutting
Cut cooked or raw foods. Prepare foods for cooking or serving.
#2164 · Supplemental · 80% automatable
Schedule parties and take reservations.
data analysis — AI books reservations via tools; human handles issues
Schedule dining reservations.
#2165 · Supplemental · 28% automatable
Develop departmental objectives, budgets, policies, procedures, and strategies.
interpersonal — Food service management is live operational leadership
Manage food service operations or parts of operations.
#18720 · Supplemental · 55% automatable
Conduct meetings and collaborate with other personnel for menu planning, serving arrangements, and related details.
text generation — Menu drafts aided; cost and kitchen constraints human
Plan menu options.
#2166 · Supplemental · 68% automatable
Develop equipment maintenance schedules and arrange for repairs.
data analysis — AI plans maintenance timing; human confirms constraints
Schedule equipment maintenance.
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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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