# Will cooks be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Cooks score 23 of 100 for AI exposure. 89% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 3% today and speed up another 8%. - **3%** AI can do it - **8%** AI helps - **89%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 75% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 20 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 3 and leaves 16 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Keep records and accounts. Bookkeeping and record keeping is routine software work. | 70% AI can do it | | Plan and price menu items. Costing software and AI can price menu items for review. | 55% AI helps | | Estimate expected food consumption, requisition or purchase supplies, or procure food from storage. Forecasting usage and ordering supplies can be software assisted. | 50% AI helps | | Consult with supervisory staff to plan menus, taking into consideration factors such as costs and special event needs. AI can draft menu options and cost tradeoffs for staff review. | 40% AI helps | | Ensure freshness of food and ingredients by checking for quality, keeping track of old and new items, and rotating stock. Checking freshness and rotating stock is mostly physical inspection. | 22% Needs a person | ## How cooks compare All occupations (923) Food preparation and serving (16) **Cooks score 23**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 25 for food preparation and serving. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $37,390 a year, May 2025 People employed 1.4 million in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +12.1% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Run food cost analysis in Recipe cost control software - Build and price menu items in Menu planning software - Log stock rotation in Food safety labeling systems - Enter daily sales and specials in Point of sale POS restaurant software - Carve, trim, and bone meat to portion specs - Hold a food handler certificate for kitchen inspections ## Safer roles nearby 5 related occupations with lower scores. - [Short order cooks20 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/short-order-cooks/) - [Food preparation workers17 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/food-preparation-workers/) - [Fast food cooks21 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/fast-food-cooks/) - [Meat trimmers16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/meat-trimmers/) - [Dishwashers8 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/dishwashers/) ## Questions about cooks and AI Will AI replace cooks? Partly. About 1 in 10 working hours for cooks go to tasks AI can already do, mostly record keeping and menu pricing. Cooking itself stays with people, since tasting, carving, and running a hot line need hands and senses in the kitchen. Which cook tasks is AI taking over? Keeping records and accounts scores 70 on exposure, the highest in this job, because bookkeeping software handles routine entries and cost records. Planning and pricing menu items scores 55, since costing software can price dishes for chef review. Estimating food usage and ordering supplies scores 50, because forecasting tools can draft purchase lists from sales data. Which cook tasks stay human? Turning and stirring food, carving meat, and butchering all score 3 on exposure, the lowest in this job, because they need physical knife skill and hands at the stove. Tasting and piercing food to judge doneness scores 5, since it relies on the cook's senses. Covering for other cooks in rush periods also scores 5 because it is live and physical. How can cooks stay valuable? Learn Recipe cost control software and Menu planning software, since costing is where AI already works. Check food cost on every dish before any menu change. Keep Food safety labeling systems current so stock rotation and allergen labels pass inspection. Lead the hands-on knife, sauté, and rush-period work that stays with people. ## Related jobs - [Cafeteria cooks25 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cafeteria-cooks/) - [Bakers25 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/bakers/) - [Butchers27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/butchers/) - [Chefs36 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/chefs/) ## Next steps for cooks - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.