AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 51-3091.00
Will AI replace Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders?
Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders: AI does not yet handle any of the role's 19 tasks; most of the work is hands-on, and the part AI can address mostly needs an efficient-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 19 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders, from most to least exposed. None reaches 60, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Install equipment, such as spray units, cutting blades, or screens, using hand tools. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Observe, feel, taste, or otherwise examine products during and after processing to ensure conformance to standards. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Take product samples during or after processing for laboratory analyses. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Observe flow of materials and listen for machine malfunctions, such as jamming or spillage, and notify supervisors if corrective actions fail. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Test products for moisture content, using moisture meters. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Record production data, such as weight and amount of product processed, type of product, and time and temperature of processing. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Weigh or measure products, using scale hoppers or scale conveyors. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clear or dislodge blockages in bins, screens, or other equipment, using poles, brushes, or mallets. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Signal coworkers to synchronize flow of materials. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Open valves, gates, or chutes or use shovels to load or remove products from ovens or other equipment. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Smooth out products in bins, pans, trays, or conveyors, using rakes or shovels. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Fill or remove product from trays, carts, hoppers, or equipment, using scoops, peels, or shovels, or by hand. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Push racks or carts to transfer products to storage, cooling stations, or the next stage of processing. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Set temperature and time controls, light ovens, burners, driers, or roasters, and start equipment, such as conveyors, cylinders, blowers, driers, or pumps. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Operate or tend equipment that roasts, bakes, dries, or cures food items such as cocoa and coffee beans, grains, nuts, and bakery products. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Start conveyors to move roasted grain to cooling pans and agitate grain with rakes as blowers force air through perforated bottoms of pans. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Read work orders to determine quantities and types of products to be baked, dried, or roasted. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Clean equipment with steam, hot water, and hoses. | Estimated | No tier | |
| Observe temperature, humidity, pressure gauges, and product samples and adjust controls, such as thermostats and valves, to maintain prescribed operating conditions for specific stages. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 19 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 19 of 19. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 5% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 5% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 95% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 20,370
- Median annual wage
- $44,810
- Middle half of earners
- $37,540 to $50,680
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +0.6%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders 78% skill overlap, about 8 months to move Exposure14
- Furnace, Kiln, Oven, Drier, and Kettle Operators and Tenders 77% skill overlap, about 8 months to move Exposure22
- Conveyor Operators and Tenders 66% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure22
- Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders 65% skill overlap, about 12 months to move Exposure27
- Extruding, Forming, Pressing, and Compacting Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders 65% skill overlap, about 13 months to move Exposure23
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders and AI
Will AI replace Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders?
Not on current evidence. None of the 19 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation reaches a task exposure of 60, the level at which JobRoute counts a task as handled by AI, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 14 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears.
What is the AI exposure of Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders?
14 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 19 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 19 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders tasks can AI already do?
None reaches 60 yet. The most exposed task is: Install equipment, such as spray units, cutting blades, or screens, using hand tools, at 20 out of 100.
What AI model tier does this role need?
An efficient-tier model or lower covers 5% of the role's importance-weighted task work, and 95% is hands-on work that no model tier covers. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders, and what do they earn?
20,370 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $44,810 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +0.6% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Food and Tobacco Roasting, Baking, and Drying Machine Operators and Tenders. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/food-and-tobacco-roasting-baking-and-drying-machine-operators-and-tenders
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