Will AI replace short order cooks?

Unlikely, though parts of the work are changing. About 1h 36m of an 8-hour shift goes to tasks touched by robots. The other 6h 24m (80%) stays with people. Separately, BLS expects about 5.2% 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 2 of this job's tasks in workplaces like this one, about 1h 36m of a typical shift. 8 more tasks have only been done in factory setups built around the machine, so they stay with people here. For 1 physical task, no robot has shown it can do the work yet.

• Grill, cook, and fry foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes. (1h 29m a shift; e.g. Flippy Fry Station (Miso Robotics), in use)
• Accept payments, and make change or write charge slips as necessary. (7m a shift; e.g. McDonald's cash-accepting self-order kiosks, in use)

6h 24m of a typical shift, or 80%, 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:

• Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea. (1h 14m a shift)
• Take orders from customers and cook foods requiring short preparation times, according to customer requirements. (1h 14m a shift)
• Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops. (59m a shift)
• Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables. (52m a shift)
• Perform general cleaning activities in kitchen and dining areas. (37m 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:

• 100% spend more than half the day on their feet
• 89% work at arm's length or closer to other people
• 78% talk face to face with others every day

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 17,000 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 $35,880 a year ($17.25 an hour), 30% below the median for all U.S. jobs ($50,980). Most people in this job earn between $23,440 and $46,460 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 5.2% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% growth for all jobs. That's about 132,000 jobs in 2035. Even so, it expects about 17,000 openings a year, mostly from people retiring or changing careers. These projections don't single out AI as a cause.

About 139,000 people in the U.S., roughly 0.09% of all workers (BLS, May 2025). That makes it the 229th largest of the 796 jobs on this site. BLS expects about 132,000 in 2035.

The most common requirement is a high school diploma: about 66% 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, Coordination, Reading Comprehension
• Get strong at the parts of the job that stay with people (listed above), which take 6h 24m of a typical shift

These use similar skills, with less of a typical shift touched by AI or robots. 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:

• Restaurant Cooks (7m touched, $37k median pay)
• Food Preparation Workers (49m touched, $35k median pay)
• Fast Food and Counter Workers (58m touched, $31k median pay)
• Bakers (19m touched, $37k median pay)
• Waiters and Waitresses (17m touched, $35k median pay)

Each task carries its own evidence label. For this job: 2 with robots in real deployments, 9 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.