---
title: "Will AI Replace Fast Food Workers? (2026)"
description: "BLS rates fast food workers' exposure to AI as moderate. What that means, which parts of the work AI touches, and the 2025–2035 outlook (+5.8% projected)."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-fast-food-workers"
last-updated: "2026-10-15T08:19:32.066Z"
---

# Will AI Replace Fast Food Workers? (2026)

**Short answer:** Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow faster than average.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics places fast food workers in its moderate AI exposure category, below the middle of the pack: some of the work overlaps with what AI can do, much of it does not. BLS projects employment to change by +5.8% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 827,400 openings a year.

| Measure | Value | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BLS relative AI exposure | Moderate | BLS Employment Projections, AI exposure categories |
| NueCareer AI-resilience score | 48/100 | NueCareer analysis of O\*NET 31.0 Database |
| Projected employment change | +5.8% | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Openings a year | 827,400 | BLS EP 2025–2035 |
| Median annual wage | $31,200 | BLS OEWS May 2025 |

## Exposure categories

| BLS category | Occupations |
| --- | --- |
| Low | 203 |
| Moderate (this job) | 194 |
| High | 190 |
| Very high | 199 |

Exposure means AI could be or has been used to assist with or complete some of the work. BLS says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains, automation probability or wage effects. Method: https://www.bls.gov/emp/publications/ai-exposure-categories.htm

## What holds up

- Face-to-face discussions: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Dealing with the public: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Time spent on your feet: 4.4/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Performing for or working directly with the public: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## What AI reaches first

- Repeating the same tasks: 3.8/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Repetitive motions: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Being exact or highly accurate: 4.1/5 (O\*NET work context)
- Getting information: 3.5/5 (O\*NET work activity importance)

## O\*NET tasks

- Communicate with customers regarding orders, comments, and complaints.
- Brew coffee and tea, and fill containers with requested beverages.
- Serve customers in eating places that specialize in fast service and inexpensive carry-out food.
- Accept payment from customers, and make change as necessary.
- Serve food, beverages, or desserts to customers in such settings as take-out counters of restaurants or lunchrooms, business or industrial establishments, hotel rooms, and cars.
- Clean and organize eating, service, and kitchen areas.

## Related careers less exposed to AI than fast food workers

- [Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendant and Bartender Helper](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dining-room-and-cafeteria-attendant-and-bartender-helper): BLS exposure Low, median $33,980; [Will AI replace bussers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-bussers)
- [Dishwasher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/dishwasher): BLS exposure Low, median $34,810; [Will AI replace dishwashers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-dishwashers)
- [Cook, Institution and Cafeteria](https://nuecareer.com/careers/cook-institution-and-cafeteria): BLS exposure Low, median $37,450
- [Food Preparation Worker](https://nuecareer.com/careers/food-preparation-worker): BLS exposure Low, median $35,320; [Will AI replace food preparation workers?](https://nuecareer.com/careers/will-ai-replace-food-preparation-workers)

## FAQ

**Will AI replace fast food workers?**

Unlikely. BLS rates the work's exposure to AI as moderate, below the middle of the pack, and still projects employment to grow faster than average. BLS defines exposure as AI being able to assist with or complete some of the work, and says it does not imply job loss, productivity gains or wage effects. BLS projects employment to change by +5.8% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 827,400 openings a year.

**How exposed are fast food workers to AI?**

BLS sorts 786 occupations into four relative categories: low, moderate, high and very high. Fast Food Workers are in the moderate category, alongside 193 other occupations. The categories combine five public measures of where AI could be or already is used, and they compare occupations with each other rather than giving an absolute risk.

**What parts of a fast food and counter worker's job can AI do?**

In O\*NET's description of the work, the parts that overlap most with what AI handles well are repeating the same tasks, repetitive motions and being exact or highly accurate. The parts that hold up best are face-to-face discussions, dealing with the public and time spent on your feet. These come from O\*NET ratings of how important each activity is to the job, read through NueCareer's AI-resilience method.

**Is being a fast food and counter worker a safe career from AI?**

On NueCareer's AI-resilience score, built from O\*NET work activities, fast food workers score 48 out of 100, higher than 56% of the occupations we score. The job pays a median of $31,200 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). No job is fully safe from technological change, but the federal exposure category and the projected openings are the two numbers worth weighing.

**What careers similar to fast food workers are less exposed to AI?**

Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendant and Bartender Helper (low exposure, $33,980 median), Dishwasher (low exposure, $34,810 median), Cook, Institution and Cafeteria (low exposure, $37,450 median), Food Preparation Worker (low exposure, $35,320 median). Each is in a lower BLS exposure category than fast food workers, and most are listed by O\*NET as related to the work.

Full profile: https://nuecareer.com/careers/fast-food-and-counter-worker.

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology