AI exposure: Chefs and Head Cooks
Direct and may participate in the preparation, seasoning, and cooking of salads, soups, fish, meats, vegetables, desserts, or other foods. May plan and price menu items, order supplies, and keep records and accounts.
Reading this score
computed34.6% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Chefs and Head Cooks at the 60th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.2 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.
What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 21 tasks it averages 1.71 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.
The most exposed thing this job does is Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation, at 80.0%. The least is Prepare and cook foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or..., at 0.0%. A gap of 80.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within food preparation and serving occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 16 roles in the group is 16.1%, and only 2 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 21 tasks, 11 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 10 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take systems being given deeper access to the organisation's own records and history, which is already happening. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Task by task
21 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order or requisition food or other supplies needed to ensure efficient operation. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 4.43 | exposed |
| Meet with sales representatives to negotiate prices or order supplies. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.54 | exposed |
| Arrange for equipment purchases or repairs. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.52 | exposed |
| Collaborate with other personnel to plan and develop recipes or menus, taking into account such factors as seasonal availability of ingredients or the likely number of customers. | 80.0% | 20.0% | 0.0% | 3.42 | exposed |
| Record production or operational data on specified forms. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.55 | exposed |
| Estimate amounts and costs of required supplies, such as food and ingredients. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.26 | exposed |
| Analyze recipes to assign prices to menu items, based on food, labor, and overhead costs. | 60.0% | 15.0% | 25.0% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Meet with customers to discuss menus for special occasions, such as weddings, parties, or banquets. | 47.5% | 27.5% | 25.0% | 3.65 | exposed |
| Recruit and hire staff, such as cooks and other kitchen workers. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.59 | exposed |
| Determine how food should be presented and create decorative food displays. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.83 | exposed |
| Coordinate planning, budgeting, or purchasing for all the food operations within establishments such as clubs, hotels, or restaurant chains. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.05 | exposed |
| Plan, direct, or supervise food preparation or cooking activities of multiple kitchens or restaurants in an establishment such as a restaurant chain, hospital, or hotel. | 17.5% | 20.0% | 62.5% | 3.86 | untouched |
| Check the quantity and quality of received products. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.30 | untouched |
| Check the quality of raw or cooked food products to ensure that standards are met. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.29 | untouched |
| Supervise or coordinate activities of cooks or workers engaged in food preparation. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.52 | untouched |
| Determine production schedules and staff requirements necessary to ensure timely delivery of services. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 3.83 | untouched |
| Monitor sanitation practices to ensure that employees follow standards and regulations. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.87 | untouched |
| Instruct cooks or other workers in the preparation, cooking, garnishing, or presentation of food. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.57 | untouched |
| Inspect supplies, equipment, or work areas to ensure conformance to established standards. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.32 | untouched |
| Demonstrate new cooking techniques or equipment to staff. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.46 | untouched |
| Prepare and cook foods of all types, either on a regular basis or for special guests or functions. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.83 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 2.17 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 1.50 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.10 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.86 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.71 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.24 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.