# Will meat trimmers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Meat trimmers score 16 of 100 for AI exposure. 88% of their task time still needs a person. AI speeds up the other 12%. - **12%** AI helps - **88%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 87% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 12 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 1 and leaves 11 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Weigh meats and tag containers for weight and contents. Weighing is physical; label printing and records are automatable. | 30% AI helps | | Prepare ready-to-heat foods by filleting meat or fish or cutting it into bite-sized pieces, preparing and adding vegetables or applying sauces or breading. Filleting and breading need hands; recipe planning can be assisted. | 13% Needs a person | | Obtain and distribute specified meat or carcass. Moving carcasses is physical; order paperwork could be assisted. | 12% Needs a person | | Produce hamburger meat and meat trimmings. Grinding is physical; fat ratio math could be software aided. | 11% Needs a person | | Inspect meat products for defects, bruises or blemishes and remove them along with any excess fat. Visual defect checks could be aided, but trimming needs hands. | 10% Needs a person | ## How meat trimmers compare All occupations (923) Production (107) **Meat trimmers score 16**, 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 22 for production. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $38,300 a year, May 2025 People employed 145,700 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +5.7% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Trim and section primal cuts with knife and bandsaw - Remove skin, feathers, scales and bones manually - Set fat ratio and yield targets in Microsoft Excel - Log weight tags and inventory counts in Meat inventory software - Match cut specs to customer orders in Sales software - Pull supplier spec sheets through Web browser software ## Safer roles nearby A related occupation with a lower score. - [Slaughterers12 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/slaughterers/) ## Questions about meat trimmers and AI Will AI replace meat trimmers? Unlikely. About 1 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly weighing and tagging containers and recipe planning for ready-to-heat foods. Cutting, trimming and filleting stay with people because they need hands, blade skill and a close look at each piece of meat. Which tasks are AI taking over for meat trimmers? Weighing and tagging containers is the most exposed task, with an exposure score of 30, because label printing and weight records are automatable while the scale work stays physical. Recipe planning for ready-to-heat foods, scored 13, and carcass order paperwork, scored 12, are moving into software as well. Which meat trimmer tasks stay human? Removing skin, feathers, scales and bones scores 2 on exposure, the lowest in the job, because it is manual work with knives and hands. Knife trimming scores 5 and primal breakdown into retail cuts scores 7, so these tasks stay with people on the line. How can meat trimmers stay valuable? Learn the yield and fat ratio numbers that software now produces, starting with Meat inventory software for weight tags and Microsoft Excel for yield math. Keep knife and bandsaw skill sharp on primal breakdown, since that work needs hands. Use Sales software to match cut specs to customer orders. ## Related jobs - [Butchers27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/butchers/) - [Packers19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/packers/) - [Packaging machine operators19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/packaging-machine-operators/) - [Food batchmakers24 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/food-batchmakers/) ## Next steps for meat trimmers - ### 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.