# Cooks, Fast Food

> Prepare and cook food in a fast food restaurant with a limited menu. Duties of these cooks are limited to preparation of a few basic items and normally involve operating large-volume single-purpose cooking equipment.

- **SOC code:** 35-2011.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2011-00
- **Also known as:** Cook, Grill Cook, Line Cook, Pizza Cook, Deep Fat Fryer Operator, Fast Food Cook, Fry Cook, Fryer
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Order and take delivery of supplies.
- Cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously.
- Operate large-volume cooking equipment, such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles.
- Prepare specialty foods, such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, or tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time.
- Wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking.
- Prepare and serve beverages, such as coffee or fountain drinks.
- Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils.
- Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions.
- Serve orders to customers at windows, counters, or tables.
- Clean, stock, and restock workstations and display cases.
- Maintain sanitation, health, and safety standards in work areas.
- Cook and package batches of food, such as hamburgers or fried chicken, prepared to order or kept warm until sold.

**Emerging tasks** (O*NET):
- Take out garbage.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Administration and Management _(knowledge)_
- Transportation _(knowledge)_
- Communications and Media _(knowledge)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Public Safety and Security _(knowledge)_
- Information Ordering _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Service Orientation _(transferable_skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Microsoft Word _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Aldelo Systems Aldelo for Restaurants Pro
- Foodman Home-Delivery
- Plexis Software Plexis POS
- RestaurantPlus PRO

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 30th percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 29th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 3rd percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 65th percentile (Moderate) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 65th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -13.5% growth (Declining); 82.1k annual openings; 669.5k → 579.2k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $30,160; 668,230 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 41% automation, 46% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** directive.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Prepare specialty foods such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, and tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time. _(2.5% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking. _(1.9% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions. _(1.5% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Measure ingredients required for specific food items being prepared. _(1.1% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Prepare dough, following recipe. _(0.6% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me prepare specialty foods such as pizzas, fish and chips, sandwiches, and tacos, following specific methods that usually require short preparation time.
- Help me wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking.
- Help me read food order slips or receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions.
- Help me measure ingredients required for specific food items being prepared.
- Help me prepare dough, following recipe.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-35-2011-00_