Butchers and Meat Cutters
In short: today's best AI models could do about 4% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The conversations, in-person and hands-on work, about 96% of the time, stays with people.
Cut, trim, or prepare consumer-sized portions of meat for use or sale in retail establishments.
136,430 people do this job in the US. $40,140 a year.
Reviewed on September 30, 2026: what each task is made of, and what handing it over would ask.
A typical 40-hour week
- AI could take on1 h
- A person checks AI's work1 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people38 h
Butchers and Meat Cutters, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 1 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 38 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Estimate needs and order meat (about 1 h, a person checks); Record meat received and sold (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 1%
- 3%
- 2%
- 22%
- 71%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
What handing it over would take, now
The 4% within reach splits by what a model would need. The dates, pace and reliability follow the controls above. Estimates.
of the working time. The material can be handed to a model and the result handed back.
of the working time. The model has to be connected to the system the work lives in.
is conversation short enough by length. This site leaves conversation with people, so it is not in the total.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 4%. Today's estimate: 4%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 11 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 92% of this job's working time as physical work. For 92% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 92% in a purpose-built cell. 0.92 of 3, the 168th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 8%
- In a purpose-built cell 92%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
What changes for the people in this job
From the task-by-task review, by the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five. It says which parts of the work stay with people and which change, not whether anyone keeps a job: that depends on decisions no data set can see.
What stays with people
96% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Arrange the display counter, the hands-on work, 25%
- Supervise other cutters, the in-person work, 21%
- Cut, bone and grind meat, the hands-on work, 20%
- Cure, smoke and preserve meat, the hands-on work, 11%
- Prepare special cuts for customers, the hands-on work, 6%
- Receive, inspect and store meat, the hands-on work, 5%
What becomes checking the machine
3% of the working time: desk work a model could do by then, in tasks where a mistake costs something or a licensed person signs. A person checks it. Another 2% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
- Estimate needs and order meat, costly if wrong, 3%
What to learn
- The hands-on craft. About 71% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
- The conversations. About 24% of the time is conversation and in-person work, which this site leaves with people: listening, explaining, persuading, calming.
- Judgment where errors are severe. Some tasks are severe if wrong. Knowing when not to trust an output matters more there than speed.
- Reviewing work you did not do yourself. The tasks under What becomes checking the machine, where a mistake costs something, stay a person's to check: spotting what a draft gets wrong is a skill of its own.
Your own version of this job: read it against your job description. The headline is free; the full personal report, every task with its timeline and what to learn, is $19 (a sample).
The tasks
Sorted by . 11 tasks from .
| Task | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prepare and place meat cuts and products in display counter to appear attractive and catch the shopper's eye.Cuts laid out in the case.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Marel RoboPacker for Meat (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 25% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Supervise other butchers or meat cutters.Leading the cutters on the floor.Done daily by most who do it. | 21% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | In person 100% | Stays with people |
| Cut, trim, bone, tie, and grind meats, such as beef, pork, poultry, and fish, to prepare in cooking form.Knives, saws and grinders on the meat.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, I-Cut 55/56/130 portion cutters in case-ready whole muscle steak line (JBT Marel) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 20% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Cure, smoke, tenderize, and preserve meat.Curing and smoking by hand.Done daily by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Ross TC-700 automatic tenderizer (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 11% | 3.3 h50 min to 1 work day | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Prepare special cuts of meat ordered by customers.Cutting to the customer's order, with a word at the counter.Done several times a day by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Marel I-Cut 55 PortionCutter / Whole Muscle Steak Line (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Hands-on 80%, in person 20% | Stays with people |
| Receive, inspect, and store meat upon delivery to ensure meat quality.Deliveries checked and put away.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Americold Russellville automated expansion (Ancra automated trailer unloading + ASRS + Cognex scanners) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 33 min17 min to 1.1 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Shape, lace, and tie roasts, using boning knife, skewer, and twine.Shaping and tying with knife, skewer and twine.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, SIEBECK FRT-A tying machine (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 17 min8 min to 33 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Estimate requirements and order or requisition meat supplies to maintain inventories.Working out what is needed and placing the order.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Systems 60%, documents 40% | 100%Half by now |
| Wrap, weigh, label, and price cuts of meat.Wrapping and labeling at the counter.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Ishida WM-Ai / WM-Nano automatic wrapper (Rice Lake Retail Solutions) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 4 min3 min to 8 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Negotiate with representatives from supply companies to determine order details.Calls with supplier representatives.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 38 min17 min to 1.3 h | Conversation 100% | Stays with people |
| Record quantity of meat received and issued to cooks or keep records of meat sales.Quantities recorded.Done daily by most who do it. | 2% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Systems 100% | 100%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach. Made of: how the task's time splits among five kinds of doing. Only the documents and systems parts can count as within reach, so a task that is 30% documents can be at most 30% within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Butchers and Meat Cutters is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 4% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 4% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Butchers and Meat Cutters come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Estimate needs and order meat (100% of the task's time now); and Record meat received and sold (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Butchers and Meat Cutters stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Arrange the display counter; Supervise other cutters; and Cut, bone and grind meat. Together such tasks are about 96% of the working time, and the people and body parts of the other tasks stay with people too.
- What should Butchers and Meat Cutters learn as AI takes on more of the work?
- By the job's own task-by-task review, the first things to learn are the hands-on craft; the conversations; and judgment where errors are severe. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 96% of the working time stays with people, 3% becomes checking a model's work and 2% could be handed over with lighter checks. It says which parts of the work change, never whether anyone keeps a job.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Butchers and Meat Cutters?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Butchers and Meat Cutters?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 92% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 92% of the working time. Its index is 0.92 of 3. One example: Marel RoboPacker for Meat for "arrange the display counter". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 11 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, reviewed one task at a time on September 30, 2026 for what each is made of (documents, business systems, conversation, in person, hands-on), and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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