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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Food Preparation Workers?
Task-level automation exposure for Food Preparation Workers: 31 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
31 of 31 tasks scored
Median Salary
$35,320 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Very High
893,600 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
-3.0%
employment change
135,700 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.
$21,820 – $40,910
Highest medians
Washington $40,910
District of Columbia $39,600
California $39,350
Colorado $38,960
Massachusetts $38,900
Lowest medians
Guam $21,820
Puerto Rico $22,400
Louisiana $23,620
Mississippi $26,240
Kentucky $26,850
State figures come from the 35-2021 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 80%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 0%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 4%
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 4/100
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
31 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) 6%
2 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 8%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 86%
26 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 08/2024 · Incumbent
Check and log refrigerator, freezer, and cooler temperatures.
Constituent Tasks
#18728 · Core · 9% automatable
Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
physical manipulation — Food area cleaning requires physical labor
Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment. Clean tableware.
#2204 · Core · 5% automatable
Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
physical manipulation — Hands-on kitchen assistance
Assist chefs or caterers with food or drink preparation.
#18730 · Core · 42% automatable
Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers.
decision support — AI can interpret readings but hands-on assessment is human
Assess equipment functioning.
#2210 · Core · 9% automatable
Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
physical manipulation — Hands-on moving of supplies to locations
Move equipment, supplies or food to required locations.
#2208 · Core · 5% automatable
Remove trash and clean kitchen garbage containers.
physical manipulation — Physical collection and removal of trash
Remove trash.
#2197 · Core · 8% automatable
Store food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.
physical manipulation — Moving goods in kitchens and storage areas
Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas.
#2203 · Core · 25% automatable
Weigh or measure ingredients.
physical manipulation — Physical measuring of ingredients by hand
Measure ingredients.
#18734 · Core · 8% automatable
Vacuum dining area and sweep and mop kitchen floor.
physical manipulation — Food area cleaning requires physical labor
Clean food preparation areas, facilities, or equipment. Clean food service areas.
#18732 · Core · 72% automatable
Inform supervisors when equipment is not working properly and when food and supplies are getting low, and order needed items.
text generation — AI drafts reports to managers; human sends
Report information to managers or other personnel.
#18731 · Core · 5% automatable
Wash, peel, and cut various foods, such as fruits and vegetables, to prepare for cooking or serving.
physical manipulation — Manual food preparation
Prepare foods for cooking or serving.
#18729 · Core · 6% automatable
Prepare a variety of foods, such as meats, vegetables, or desserts, according to customers' orders or supervisors' instructions, following approved procedures.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#21005 · Core · 7% automatable
Assemble meal trays with foods in accordance with patients' diets.
physical manipulation — Plating food is fine manual dexterity
Arrange food for serving.
#2207 · Core · 8% automatable
Stock cupboards and refrigerators, and tend salad bars and buffet meals.
physical manipulation — Moving goods in kitchens and storage areas
Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas. Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
#2213 · Core · 5% automatable
Use manual or electric appliances to clean, peel, slice, and trim foods.
physical manipulation — Hands-on food cutting
Cut cooked or raw foods. Prepare foods for cooking or serving.
#2217 · Core · 7% automatable
Load dishes, glasses, and tableware into dishwashing machines.
physical manipulation — Hands-on dishwashing of physical tableware
Clean tableware.
#2200 · Core · 6% automatable
Portion and wrap food, or place it directly on plates for service to patrons.
physical manipulation — Plating food is fine manual dexterity
Arrange food for serving. Package food or supplies.
#2220 · Core · 8% automatable
Add cutlery, napkins, food, and other items to trays on assembly lines in hospitals, cafeterias, airline kitchens, and similar establishments.
physical manipulation — Physically stocking serving stations and dining areas
Stock serving stations or dining areas with food or supplies.
#2201 · Core · 8% automatable
Place food trays over food warmers for immediate service, or store them in refrigerated storage cabinets.
physical manipulation — Moving goods in kitchens and storage areas
Arrange food for serving. Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas.
#2209 · Core · 6% automatable
Prepare and serve a variety of beverages, such as coffee, tea, and soft drinks.
physical manipulation — Hands-on beverage prep in unpredictable kitchen space
Serve food or beverages. Prepare hot or cold beverages.
#2221 · Core · 12% automatable
Mix ingredients for green salads, molded fruit salads, vegetable salads, and pasta salads.
physical manipulation — Physical mixing of ingredients by hand
Mix ingredients.
#2206 · Core · 8% automatable
Receive and store food supplies, equipment, and utensils in refrigerators, cupboards, and other storage areas.
physical manipulation — Moving goods in kitchens and storage areas
Store supplies or goods in kitchens or storage areas.
#2214 · Core · 6% automatable
Stir and strain soups and sauces.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#2211 · Core · 6% automatable
Make special dressings and sauces as condiments for sandwiches.
physical manipulation — Cooking requires hands-on manipulation of real food
Cook foods.
#2212 · Core · 5% automatable
Scrape leftovers from dishes into garbage containers.
physical manipulation — Physical collection and removal of trash
Remove trash.
#2215 · Supplemental · 28% automatable
Distribute food to waiters and waitresses to serve to customers.
physical manipulation — Hands-on distribution of resources to people
Distribute resources to patrons or employees.
#18733 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Operate cash register, handle money, and give correct change.
data analysis — Billing and payment processing largely automated
Operate cash registers. Process customer bills or payments.
#2222 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Distribute menus to hospital patients, collect diet sheets, and deliver food trays and snacks to nursing units or directly to patients.
interpersonal — Menu presentation is live service interaction
Present food or beverage information or menus to customers.
#2199 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Package take-out foods or serve food to customers.
physical manipulation — Hands-on packing of varied goods
Serve food or beverages. Package food or supplies.
#2219 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Cut, slice or grind meat, poultry, and seafood to prepare for cooking.
physical manipulation — Hands-on food cutting
Cut cooked or raw foods.
#2218 · Supplemental · 5% automatable
Butcher and clean fowl, fish, poultry, and shellfish to prepare for cooking or serving.
physical manipulation — Hands-on food cutting
Cut cooked or raw foods.
#2216 · Supplemental · 82% automatable
Keep records of the quantities of food used.
data analysis — Record production data into structured logs
Record operational or production data.
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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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