Will AI replace Food Preparation Workers?
Estimated risk score: 9 out of 100
Very low replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (0 to 28).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 31 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 35-2021.00 · Food Preparation and Serving Related
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 2 of its 31 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Keep records of the quantities of food used.
- Operate cash register, handle money, and give correct change.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 28 of its 31 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Add cutlery, napkins, food, and other items to trays on assembly lines in hospitals, cafeterias, airline kitchens, and similar establishments.
- Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items.
- Carry food supplies, equipment, and utensils to and from storage and work areas.
- Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
- Cut, slice or grind meat, poultry, and seafood to prepare for cooking.
- Distribute food to waiters and waitresses to serve to customers.
What the job is
Perform a variety of food preparation duties other than cooking, such as preparing cold foods and shellfish, slicing meat, and brewing coffee or tea.
Also called: Food Service Worker (FSW), FSW, Expo, Parer, Caterer, Cook Aide, Food Expo, Food Prep.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate