Dietetic Technicians
In short: today's best AI models could do about 53% 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 54% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 46% of the time, stays with people.
Assist in the provision of food service and nutritional programs, under the supervision of a dietitian. May plan and produce meals based on established guidelines, teach principles of food and nutrition, or counsel individuals.
31,560 people do this job in the US. $37,640 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on21 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people19 h
Dietetic Technicians, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 21 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 19 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Conduct nutritional assessments of individuals, including obtaining and evaluating individuals' dietary histories, to plan nutritional programs (about 5 h); Develop job specifications, job descriptions, or work schedules (about 4 h); Provide dietitians with assistance researching food, nutrition, or food service systems (about 4 h).
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.
- 54%
- 0%
- 46%
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.
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, 37%. Today's estimate: 54%.
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, 0.021% went to this job's tasks in May 2026, the 302nd largest of the 447 jobs that showed up at all; 2 of its 13 tasks showed up. Within each of Anthropic's methods, never across a change: 0.054% to 0.073% (released February and March 2025); 0.072% to 0.083% (August 2025 to February 2026); 0.023% to 0.021% (April to May 2026).
Each release
| Conversations | Share | Rank | Tasks seen |
|---|---|---|---|
| Released February 2025 | 0.054% | 267 of 708 | 4 of 13 |
| Released March 2025 | 0.073% | 208 of 703 | 6 of 13 |
| The week of Aug 4, 2025 (released September 2025) | 0.072% | 188 of 655 | 3 of 13 |
| The week of Nov 13, 2025 (released January 2026) | 0.065% | 206 of 672 | 3 of 13 |
| The week of Feb 5, 2026 (released March 2026) | 0.083% | 191 of 677 | 4 of 13 |
| April 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.023% | 297 of 434 | 2 of 13 |
| May 2026 (released June 2026) | 0.021% | 302 of 447 | 2 of 13 |
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 26% of this job's working time as physical work. For 6% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 6% in a purpose-built cell. 0.06 of 3, the 560th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 74%
- No robot shown 19%
- In a purpose-built cell 6%
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.
The tasks
Sorted by . 13 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supervise food production or service or assist dietitians or nutritionists in food service supervision or planning.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 18% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Prepare a major meal, following recipes and determining group food quantities.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Circus CA-1 (Circus Autonomy One) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 16% | 2.5 h1.3 h to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Conduct nutritional assessments of individuals, including obtaining and evaluating individuals' dietary histories, to plan nutritional programs.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 12% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Develop job specifications, job descriptions, or work schedules.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 10% | 2.5 h50 min to 3.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Provide dietitians with assistance researching food, nutrition, or food service systems.Done daily by most who do it. | 10% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Analyze menus or recipes, standardize recipes, or test new products.Done daily by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 9% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Plan menus or diets or guide individuals or families in food selection, preparation, or menu planning, based upon nutritional needs and established guidelines.Done daily by most who do it. AI observed on this task. | 7% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.1 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Attend interdisciplinary meetings with other health care professionals to discuss patient care.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 1.3 h38 min to 1.7 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Observe and monitor patient food intake and body weight, and report changes, progress, and dietary problems to dietician.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Select, schedule, or conduct orientation or in-service education programs.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | 99%Half by now | |
| Deliver speeches on diet, nutrition, or health to promote healthy eating habits and illness prevention and treatment.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 h38 min to 4.2 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Determine food and beverage costs and assist in implementing cost control procedures.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | 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.
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).
- General Medical and Surgical Hospitals12,030 people
- Nursing Care Facilities (Skilled Nursing Facilities)9,710 people
- Continuing Care Retirement Communities and Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly2,610 people
- Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals1,310 people
- Special Food Services920 people
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 Dietetic Technicians is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 54% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 54% 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 Dietetic Technicians 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: Conduct nutritional assessments of individuals, including obtaining and evaluating individuals' dietary histories, to plan nutritional programs (100% of the task's time now); Develop job specifications, job descriptions, or work schedules (100% of the task's time now); and Provide dietitians with assistance researching food, nutrition, or food service systems (100% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Dietetic Technicians stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Supervise food production or service or assist dietitians or nutritionists in food service supervision or planning; Prepare a major meal, following recipes and determining group food quantities; and Analyze menus or recipes, standardize recipes, or test new products. Together such tasks are about 46% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Dietetic Technicians?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026 and tied to a work task, 0.021% went to this job's tasks, the 302nd largest share of the 447 jobs that showed up; 2 of its 13 tasks appeared. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 24%. 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 Dietetic Technicians?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 26% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 6% of the working time. Its index is 0.06 of 3. One example: Circus CA-1 (Circus Autonomy One) for "prepare a major meal, following recipes and determining group food quantities". 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 13 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, 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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