# Will slaughterers be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Slaughterers score 12 of 100 for AI exposure. All of their task time still needs a person. - **100%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 93% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 14 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 0 and leaves 14 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Cut, trim, skin, sort, and wash viscera of slaughtered animals to separate edible portions from offal. Visual sorting of offal could get some computer vision help. | 16% Needs a person | | Grind meat into hamburger, and into trimmings used to prepare sausages, luncheon meats, and other meat products. Machine grinding; software could help log recipes and yields. | 15% Needs a person | | Remove bones, and cut meat into standard cuts in preparation for marketing. Physical knife work on carcasses; AI helps only with planning. | 14% Needs a person | | Wrap dressed carcasses or meat cuts. Physical packaging of carcasses and cuts; minimal AI help. | 11% Needs a person | | Trim, clean, or cure animal hides. Physical hide trimming and curing; little AI benefit. | 10% Needs a person | ## How slaughterers compare All occupations (923) Production (107) **Slaughterers score 12**, 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 $40,130 a year, May 2025 People employed 69,950 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +2.0% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Bone and cut standard and premium cuts manually - Set grinder plate size for hamburger and sausage trimmings - Log grinding recipes and yields in Microsoft Excel - Record lot traceability in AgInfoLink Meat Inventory Tracking System - Run RFID software tag scans for carcass traceability ## Questions about slaughterers and AI Will AI replace slaughterers? Partly. About 1 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly offal sorting and meat grinding, the two most exposed tasks. Cutting carcasses and stunning animals stay with people because they need hands on the knife and welfare judgement on live animals. Which slaughterer tasks is AI taking over? Offal sorting and meat grinding are the most exposed, with exposure scores of 16 and 15. Computer vision could help separate edible portions from offal, and software could log grinding recipes and yields for trimmings used in sausages and luncheon meats. The physical cutting and feeding still falls to the worker. Which slaughterer tasks stay human? Severing jugular veins, with an exposure score of 3, and shackling hind legs, with a score of 4, stay with people. Both involve physical handling of live animals, and AI adds almost nothing to that work. Stunning animals, scored 5, also stays human because it needs equipment handling and welfare judgement. How can slaughterers stay valuable? Build skill in boning and cutting standard and premium cuts, since that knife work is the least exposed part of the job. Keep yield and recipe records in Microsoft Excel and lot traceability in AgInfoLink or Food Connex, so your data matches what the plant already uses. Learn to read RFID tag scans so your cuts can be traced back to the source animal. ## Related jobs - [Meat trimmers16 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/meat-trimmers/) - [Butchers27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/butchers/) - [Food preparation workers17 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/food-preparation-workers/) - [Packers19 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/packers/) ## Next steps for slaughterers - ### 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.