{ "source": "Cooked Index — occupational AI risk register", "page": "https://cookedindex.com/jobs/cooks-fast-food/", "methodology": "https://cookedindex.com/methodology", "notice": "Verdicts are re-examined as evidence accumulates. Re-fetch before relying on this; the page above always carries the current score.", "scored_at": "2026-08-11", "model": "claude-opus-5", "occupation": { "title": "Cooks, Fast Food", "soc_code": "35-2011", "category": "Food", "us_employment": 641070, "median_annual_wage": 30890 }, "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 35, "contested": false, "near_boundary": false, "dimensions": { "task_resistance": 11, "embodiment": 14, "liability_shield": 2, "trust_premium": 3, "judgment_accountability": 5 }, "reasoning": { "task_resistance": "Timed fry drops, griddle patty flips, and shake dispensing are already commercially automated (Flippy, autonomous fry stations), but the same shift also means breaking down a jammed lettuce shredder, working a lunch rush where orders arrive out of sequence, restocking a walk-in, and hand-wrapping items whose sizes and fillings change with every LTO promo — enough non-scripted physical work to sit at 11 rather than in the single digits.", "embodiment": "A 14 reflects a fixed kitchen footprint — same fryers, same line, same layout — but an environment nobody would call controlled: 350°F oil, wet tile, steam, someone's elbow in your path, and equipment that fails mid-rush; robots handle the fryer well and handle spills and crowding badly.", "liability_shield": "A ServSafe food handler card is a few hours and a multiple-choice test in most states, and when a health inspector writes up a temperature violation the citation lands on the store's permit and the operator, not on the cook who pulled the tray — no personal license is at risk, hence 2.", "trust_premium": "Customers order from a menu board or an app and never see the person cooking; the brand and the speed of the drive-thru timer are the product, which is why this sits at 3 and not zero — regulars in a small-town store do recognize the crew.", "judgment_accountability": "Cook times, hold times, portion charts, and holding-cabinet timers dictate nearly every decision, and the real calls you make — whether the oil needs changing, whether that batch of nuggets sat too long, when to pre-drop before a bus pulls in — are consequential but bounded and reversible, putting this at 5 rather than 12." }, "rationale": "Nothing a fast food cook does is text or screen work, so language models are irrelevant here — the threat is purpose-built kitchen robotics and equipment automation aimed at exactly these tasks: fry baskets, griddle patties, drink and shake dispensing, assembly lines. The work is embodied but deliberately deskilled and standardized, which is the easiest kind of physical work to mechanize, and there's no license, no signature, and no customer paying for a relationship with the person at the fryer. What survives is the messy human middle: reading a rush, fixing a jammed line, prepping unpredictable produce, keeping a station clean and safe when equipment misbehaves.", "outlook": "Headcount per store keeps shrinking as fry, grill, and beverage automation spreads through large chains, while the remaining roles consolidate into fewer equipment-savvy shift leads and prep cooks.", "what_would_raise_it": { "levers": [ { "dimension": "task_resistance", "change": "Task-mix shift as fry/griddle robotics (Miso Robotics Flippy, White Castle/Jack in the Box pilots) take the repeatable stations: the remaining shift becomes exception handling — robot jam clearing, sanitation of automated equipment, non-standard produce prep, allergen-modified and custom orders that break the automated flow. Two genuine tiers exist here, and the residual tier is harder than the average of today's job.", "plausibility": "already happening", "would_add": 3 }, { "dimension": "embodiment", "change": "If franchise menu complexity keeps expanding (limited-time offers, regional items, customization via app ordering) faster than robot retooling cycles, the physical work stays in unstructured layouts — cramped legacy kitchens not rebuilt for automation, where equipment placement varies store to store. Embodiment scores rise where the environment resists standardization rather than where the task does.", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 2 }, { "dimension": "liability_shield", "change": "A state or local food-safety rule requiring a certified food protection manager (ServSafe-style) physically present on every shift and personally named on the HACCP log for automated cooking equipment — extending existing FDA Food Code Person-In-Charge requirements to cover robotic fry/grill temperature verification. Some jurisdictions already require a certified manager on premises; the specific extension is personal signature on automated-equipment cook-temperature records.", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 3 }, { "dimension": "judgment_accountability", "change": "If chains formalize the shift lead / 'automation attendant' role — the person who decides to shut down a miscalibrated fryer, void a batch, or switch to manual during a rush — with documented authority and accountability, the call under ambiguity becomes part of the job description rather than informal. Union contracts from the Fight for $15 lineage and California's AB 1228 Fast Food Council are venues where staffing-and-authority terms are actually being written.", "plausibility": "plausible", "would_add": 3 } ], "ceiling_note": "Trust premium has no realistic route: fast food's entire value proposition is speed and price uniformity, and no customer segment pays extra to know a human touched the patty. Even with every lever above, this occupation stays in the exposed band — the levers slow attrition of headcount per store and shift who survives, they do not create a protected role." }, "adjudication": null, "employment_history": { "points": [ { "y": 2017, "emp": 503780, "wage": 21040 }, { "y": 2018, "emp": 487510, "wage": 22330 }, { "y": 2019, "emp": 527220, "wage": 23510 }, { "y": 2020, "emp": 544420, "wage": 24380 }, { "y": 2021, "emp": 768130, "wage": 24180 }, { "y": 2022, "emp": 725590, "wage": 27640 }, { "y": 2023, "emp": 673490, "wage": 29260 }, { "y": 2024, "emp": 668230, "wage": 30160 }, { "y": 2025, "emp": 641070, "wage": 30890 } ], "from": 2017, "to": 2025, "change_pct": 27.3, "comparable_from": 2019, "spans_soc_revision": true }, "pivots": [ { "slug": "postal-service-mail-carriers", "title": "Postal Service Mail Carriers", "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 49, "median_wage": 60550, "overlap": 78, "skills_to_close": [ "Operation and Control", "Operations Analysis" ] }, { "slug": "janitors-and-cleaners-except-maids-and-housekeeping-cleaners", "title": "Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners", "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 52, "median_wage": 36840, "overlap": 75, "skills_to_close": [ "Troubleshooting", "Equipment Maintenance", "Equipment Selection", "Repairing" ] }, { "slug": "cooks-restaurant", "title": "Cooks, Restaurant", "verdict": "EXPOSED", "risk_resistance": 57, "median_wage": 37390, "overlap": 74, "skills_to_close": [ "Equipment Selection", "Quality Control Analysis", "Management of Material Resources", "Operation and Control" ] } ], "license": "https://cookedindex.com/terms" }