Will AI replace food preparation workers?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 49m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by robots. The other 7h 11m (90%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 3% fewer of these jobs by 2035 (all jobs: +3.5%).

None of this job's tasks show regular AI use yet. That can mean the work is hands-on or in person, or simply that it rarely comes up in AI usage data.

For some tasks, yes. Robots have done 4 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 49m of a typical shift. 23 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here. For 2 physical tasks, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

• Weigh or measure ingredients. (16m a shift; e.g. Sweetgreen Infinite Kitchen (ex-Spyce), in use)
• Load dishes, glasses, and tableware into dishwashing machines. (16m a shift; e.g. Armstrong dishwashing robot (three 7-DoF arms with interchangeable grippers), in use)
• Add cutlery, napkins, food, and other items to trays on assembly lines in hospitals, cafeterias, airline kitchens, and similar establishments. (8m a shift; e.g. Chef Robotics AI food assembly robot (RaaS), in use)
• Operate cash register, handle money, and give correct change. (8m a shift; e.g. McDonald's cash-accepting self-order kiosks, in use)

7h 11m of a typical shift, or 90%, goes to tasks with no AI or robot evidence yet. No AI usage or robot deployment has shown up for these so far. The biggest:

• Clean and sanitize work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware. (49m a shift)
• Wash, peel, and cut various foods, such as fruits and vegetables, to prepare for cooking or serving. (49m a shift)
• Prepare a variety of foods, such as meats, vegetables, or desserts, according to customers' orders or supervisors' instructions, following approved procedures. (41m a shift)
• Assist cooks and kitchen staff with various tasks as needed, and provide cooks with needed items. (24m a shift)
• Portion and wrap food, or place it directly on plates for service to patrons. (24m a shift)

Much of it comes down to where and how the work happens. In-person, hands-on and high-stakes work is where AI and robots have made the least headway so far. In the official O*NET survey of people in this job:

• 62% talk face to face with others every day
• 59% spend more than half the day walking or moving
• 57% use their hands on tools, objects or controls more than half the time

We track 4 sourced company moves that affect this job. Most recent:

• Dec 26, 2025: Sweetgreen sells Spyce to Wonder and keeps its robot Infinite Kitchen (Widespread)
• Jun 17, 2025: Miso's Flippy fry robots at 20 locations, weekly deployments planned (Rolling out)
• Apr 11, 2025: Sweetgreen plans to add 25 more automated Infinite Kitchens in 2025 (Plan)

On Indeed, job postings in the Food Preparation & Service sector are at 96% of their February 2020 level (all U.S. postings: 104%), down 3.1% from a year earlier, as of Oct 9, 2026. BLS separately expects about 136,000 openings a year in this job through 2035. Across all U.S. postings, 7.3% now mention AI skills. Sector postings cover more than this one job and move for many reasons besides AI.

The median pay is about $35,320 a year ($16.98 an hour), 31% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $25,810 and $45,340 a year; that range covers the middle 80%. Pay figures are from BLS, May 2025, and vary a lot by state and employer. Pick a state to compare:

BLS projects a decline of 3% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 881,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 136,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 894,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.57% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 45th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 881,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 69% of people in the job said so in the official O*NET survey. O*NET rates the job at level 2 of 5 for preparation, which usually means: high school diploma, some training. Requirements vary by state and employer, especially for licensed work.

These come from the job's official skill ratings and from the tasks that AI and robots touch least today. Building them keeps you strong in the parts of the work that still need a person:

• Skills that matter more here than in most jobs: Service Orientation, Time Management, Active Listening
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 7h 11m of a typical shift
• Tools employers list: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software

Yes. Occupational experts recently added these to the official task list, a sign of how the work itself is shifting. New tasks aren't rated for AI or robots yet:

• Check and log refrigerator, freezer, and cooler temperatures.

These use similar skills. Matches come from 109 official ratings of skills, knowledge and work activities, and each needs the same or less preparation unless the official list relates the jobs directly:

• Dishwashers (3h 56m touched, $35k median pay)
• Restaurant Cooks (7m touched, $37k median pay)
• Short Order Cooks (1h 36m touched, $36k median pay)
• Fast Food and Counter Workers (58m touched, $31k median pay)
• Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers (1h 19m touched, $34k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 4 with robots in real deployments, 27 with no AI or robot evidence found. The minutes per task are estimates, not measured hours, and "no evidence" doesn't prove a task is safe.