Cooks, Short Order
In short: today's best AI models could do about 1% 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 99% of the time, stays with people.
Prepare and cook to order a variety of foods that require only a short preparation time. May take orders from customers and serve patrons at counters or tables.
138,650 people do this job in the US. $35,880 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 work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people39 h
Cooks, Short Order, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 1 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 39 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Order and shelve supplies (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.
- 0%
- 1%
- 0%
- 3%
- 96%
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 1% 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, 1%. Today's estimate: 1%.
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
Of the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled and tied to a work task, no reportable share went to this job's tasks in May 2026; 0 of its 11 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.0026% to 0.0048% (released February and March 2025); 0.0078% to 0.014% (August 2025 to February 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.0026% | 670 of 708 | 1 of 11 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.0048% | 589 of 703 | 1 of 11 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.0078% | 482 of 655 | 3 of 11 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.009% | 493 of 672 | 3 of 11 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.014% | 445 of 677 | 3 of 11 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 11 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | none | n/a | 0 of 11 |
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 100% of this job's working time as physical work. For 94% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 74% in a purpose-built cell, 20% in a structured facility. 1.14 of 3, the 71st highest of the 923 jobs.
- No robot shown 6%
- In a purpose-built cell 74%
- In a structured facility 20%
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
98% of the working time: the conversation, in-person and hands-on parts of the tasks.
- Clean kitchen and dining areas, the hands-on work, 20%
- Prepare sandwiches, soups and salads, the hands-on work, 19%
- Clean equipment and counters, the hands-on work, 18%
- Restock and date food, the hands-on work, 14%
- Grill and garnish meats, the hands-on work, 7%
- Grill and fry foods, the hands-on work, 7%
What becomes checking the machine
No desk work within reach by then in tasks where a mistake costs something. Another 1% is desk work that is small if wrong, which can be handed over with lighter checks.
What to learn
- The hands-on craft. About 96% of the time is hands-on work, which no model here does; robots are rated separately on this page.
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 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perform general cleaning activities in kitchen and dining areas.General cleaning.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Alpha Grill (Aniai) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 20% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Perform food preparation tasks, such as making sandwiches, carving meats, making soups or salads, baking breads or desserts, and brewing coffee or tea.Food preparation by hand.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Grote Robotic Sandwich Assembly Line (Stäubli TX2-60 HE) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 19% | 25 min8 min to 42 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Clean food preparation equipment, work areas, and counters or tables.Cleaning by hand.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Rosie (CleanBotix) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 21 min8 min to 38 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Restock kitchen supplies, rotate food, and stamp the time and date on food in coolers.Stocking, rotating and dating food.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, TX SCARA (Telexistence Inc.) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Grill and garnish hamburgers or other meats, such as steaks and chops.Meats grilled and plated.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Creator (formerly Momentum Machines) burger robot (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 13 min5 min to 21 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Grill, cook, and fry foods such as french fries, eggs, and pancakes.Cooking at the grill and fryer.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Flippy Fry Station (Miso Robotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 7% | 10 min4 min to 21 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Order supplies and stock them on shelves.The order placed, then the goods shelved.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Symbotic robotic case-handling system (Walmart RDCs, C&S, Associated Food Stores) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 50 min17 min to 1.7 h | Hands-on 70%, systems 30% | 30%Desk part half by now |
| Take orders from customers and cook foods requiring short preparation times, according to customer requirements.Asking the customer and cooking the order.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Alpha Grill (Aniai) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 10 min4 min to 17 min | Hands-on 70%, in person 30% | Stays with people |
| Complete orders from steam tables, placing food on plates and serving customers at tables or counters.Plating from the steam table and handing over at the counter.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, RoboEatz ARK (Fresh Take Eatery) with ABB robotic arm (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 7 min3 min to 17 min | Hands-on 70%, in person 30% | Stays with people |
| Plan work on orders so that items served together are finished at the same time.Working the grill so each order finishes together.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 4 min2 min to 13 min | Hands-on 100% | Stays with people |
| Accept payments, and make change or write charge slips as necessary.Payment and change at the counter.Done more than weekly by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, McDonald's cash-accepting self-order kiosks (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 0.4% | 3 min1 min to 7 min | Hands-on 70%, in person 30% | Stays with people |
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 Cooks, Short Order is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 1% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 1% 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 Cooks, Short Order 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: Order and shelve supplies (30% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Cooks, Short Order stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Clean kitchen and dining areas; Prepare sandwiches, soups and salads; and Clean equipment and counters. 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 Cooks, Short Order 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. By the end of 2028 on the long-run pace at four in five, about 98% of the working time stays with people, 0% becomes checking a model's work and 1% 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 Cooks, Short Order?
- 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 Cooks, Short Order?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 100% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 94% of the working time, 20% in a structured facility. Its index is 1.14 of 3. One example: Flippy Fry Station (Miso Robotics) for "grill and fry foods". 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.
This job in your state or metro area
Embed these figures on your site
A small card with the share of working time within reach now and at the end of 2027, 2028 and 2030, the date and a link back. Free under CC BY 4.0; the card carries the credit.
Your own version of this job
The page above is the occupation. Your job is your title and what you actually do: give both, and they are read against these tasks in your browser, nothing sent anywhere. The headline is free: how much of your working time is within reach now and by the end of 2028, and how many of the tasks your description names.
The full personal report is $19, to print or save as a PDF: every task with when it comes within reach, which ones your description names, the parts of your description the task list does not cover, what stays with you, what becomes checking the machine and what to learn.