# Will food preparation workers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Food preparation workers score 17 of 100 for AI exposure. 85% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 2% today and speed up another 13%. - **2%** AI can do it - **13%** AI helps - **85%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 85% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 31 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 1 of them today, speeds up 4 and leaves 26 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Keep records of the quantities of food used. Logging food quantities is routine data entry software handles well. | 70% AI can do it | | Inform supervisors when equipment is not working properly and when food and supplies are getting low, and order needed items. Reorders can be automated; spotting broken equipment needs people. | 55% AI helps | | Take and record temperature of food and food storage areas, such as refrigerators and freezers. Thermometer readings are physical; logging can be digitized. | 35% AI helps | | Operate cash register, handle money, and give correct change. POS systems automate most steps; handling cash stays manual. | 30% AI helps | | Prepare a variety of foods, such as meats, vegetables, or desserts, according to customers' orders or supervisors' instructions, following approved procedures. Hands-on prep; AI can help with recipes and order sequencing. | 18% AI helps | ## How food preparation workers compare All occupations (923) Food preparation and serving (16) **Food preparation workers score 17**, 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 $35,320 a year, May 2025 People employed 893,600 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs \-3.0% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Butcher and clean fowl, fish, poultry, and shellfish - Run recipe costing and portioning in ChefTec - Log food and storage temperatures in CBORD Foodservice Suite - Hold a ServSafe Food Handler certification - Track supply levels and reorder stock in Microsoft Excel ## Safer roles nearby 3 related occupations with lower scores. - [Dining room attendants10 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/dining-room-attendants/) - [Dishwashers8 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/dishwashers/) - [Meat trimmers16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/meat-trimmers/) ## Questions about food preparation workers and AI Will AI replace food preparation workers? Partly. About 1 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly logging food quantities and reordering supplies when stock runs low. Butchering, slicing meat, cleaning fish, and moving heavy crates stay with people, since they need hands and judgment on a live kitchen floor. Which tasks will AI take over for food preparation workers? Logging food quantities has the highest exposure at 70, because it is routine data entry that software handles well. Reordering low supplies scores 55 and can be automated, though spotting broken equipment still needs a person. Recording food and storage temperatures scores 35, since the logs can move into digital systems while the thermometer reading stays physical. Which tasks stay with food preparation workers? Butchering and cleaning fowl, fish, poultry, and shellfish scores 3 on exposure, because it is skilled physical work on raw animal products. Sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming also score 3. Removing trash and loading dishwashers score 4 and 5, since they need a person moving real objects around a busy kitchen. How can food preparation workers stay valuable? Learn the costing tools your kitchen already uses, such as ChefTec or CBORD NetRecipe, so you can check recipes and portion counts. Take on the temperature checks and supply counts in Microsoft Excel or CBORD Foodservice Suite, and flag broken equipment early. Build strong butchering and knife skills, since those tasks stay human. ## Related jobs - [Cooks23 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cooks/) - [Short order cooks20 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/short-order-cooks/) - [Fast food workers24 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/fast-food-workers/) - [Cafeteria cooks25 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cafeteria-cooks/) ## Next steps for food preparation workers - ### 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.