Prepare foods or meals.

Prepare foods or meals. is a detailed work activity in O*NET — a concrete unit of work shared across 6 occupations and seen in 8 occupation-specific tasks. It rolls up into the broader work activity Prepare foods or beverages. in Handling and Moving Objects .

Detailed work activities are the most granular shared layer in O*NET's work-activity hierarchy (Generalized → Intermediate → Detailed → occupation-specific task). The figures below describe how this activity shows up across the economy and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the work will be automated.

AI exposure

Of the 8 tasks under this activity that the OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rated, 1 (13%) are flagged as directly exposed to language models (E1) or exposed via model-powered tools (E2).

The Anthropic Economic Index observes real AI use on 1 of these tasks, with a mean mapped-usage share of 0.007% per task.

Exposure estimates overlap with model capabilities — whether a model could speed the task up — not whether the work will be done by software. Observed AI use is augmentation and assistance today, not jobs replaced.

Member tasks

Occupation-specific tasks O*NET maps to this detailed work activity, most important first.

• Help prepare and serve nutritionally balanced meals and snacks for children. · Nannies · importance 4.7 · no direct exposure
• Mix food, liquid formulas, medications, or food supplements according to instructions, prescriptions, and knowledge of animal species. · Animal Caretakers · importance 4.5 · no direct exposure
• Perform housekeeping duties, such as cooking, cleaning, washing clothes or dishes, or running errands. · Personal Care Aides · importance 4.2 · no direct exposure
• Plan, shop for, or prepare nutritious meals or assist families in planning, shopping for, or preparing nutritious meals. · Personal Care Aides · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Assist in preparing food and serving meals and refreshments to children. · Childcare Workers · importance 4.0 · no direct exposure
• Set up camps, and prepare meals for tour group members. · Travel Guides · importance 3.8 · no direct exposure
• Plan, prepare, and deliver meals to individuals with special dietary needs. · Fast Food and Counter Workers · importance 3.8 · exposure with tools
• Travel with employers to vacation homes to provide meal preparation at those locations. · Cooks, Private Household · importance 2.2 · no direct exposure

Occupations that perform this

• Nannies
• Animal Caretakers
• Personal Care Aides
• Travel Guides
• Fast Food and Counter Workers
• Cooks, Private Household

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27) Anthropic
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-prepare-foods-or-meals,
  title  = {Prepare foods or meals.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/detailed-activities/prepare-foods-or-meals}
}