Will AI replace Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
11/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 22% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 17% of the work
What the job involves
Prepare and cook large quantities of food for institutions, such as schools, hospitals, or cafeterias.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(3)
- Monitor and record food temperatures to ensure food safety.
- Compile and maintain records of food use and expenditures.
- Plan menus that are varied, nutritionally balanced, and appetizing, taking advantage of foods in season and local availability.
Out of reach(14)
- Cook foodstuffs according to menus, special dietary or nutritional restrictions, or numbers of portions to be served.
- Clean and inspect galley equipment, kitchen appliances, and work areas to ensure cleanliness and functional operation.
- Clean, cut, and cook meat, fish, or poultry.
- Rotate and store food supplies.
- Wash pots, pans, dishes, utensils, or other cooking equipment.
and 9 more
Also called
Cook · School Cook · Kitchen Cook · Mess Cook · School Cafeteria Cook · Cafeteria Cook · Dietary Cook · Food Service Specialist
Related jobs
- Cooks, Private Household28/100
- Cooks, Short Order0/100
- Cooks, Restaurant8/100
- Food Preparation Workers5/100
- Chefs and Head Cooks24/100
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics