The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 35-9021.00 · Job Zone 2

AI exposure: Dishwashers

Clean dishes, kitchen, food preparation equipment, or utensils.

Reading this score

computed

Dishwashers is among the least exposed occupations measured, at 0.0% of weighted task load, rank 923 of 923. 100.0% of this job is work current AI systems cannot produce at all. That is not a statement about skill or value. It is a statement about what these systems can and cannot do.

What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 13 tasks it averages 3.00 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.

The most exposed thing this job does is Wash dishes, glassware, flatware, pots, or pans, at 0.0%. The least is Set up banquet tables, at 0.0%. A gap of 0.0% 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 less exposed than the median of 18.2% across the group's 16 roles, with 15 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.

What would move this score. Of 13 tasks, 0 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 13 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every 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.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability0.000-4
Embodiment3.000-3
Presence0.230-3
Accountability0.580-3
Context0.620-3
Verification cost0.810-3

Task by task

13 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Wash dishes, glassware, flatware, pots, or pans, using dishwashers or by hand.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.49untouched
Maintain kitchen work areas, equipment, or utensils in clean and orderly condition.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.43untouched
Place clean dishes, utensils, or cooking equipment in storage areas.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.31untouched
Sweep or scrub floors.0.0%0.0%100.0%4.21untouched
Stock supplies, such as food or utensils, in serving stations, cupboards, refrigerators, or salad bars.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.93untouched
Clean or prepare various foods for cooking or serving.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.83untouched
Sort and remove trash, placing it in designated pickup areas.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.79untouched
Transfer supplies or equipment between storage and work areas, by hand or using hand trucks.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.73untouched
Receive and store supplies.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.65untouched
Clean garbage cans with water or steam.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.64untouched
Load or unload trucks that deliver or pick up food or supplies.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.95untouched
Prepare and package individual place settings.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.21untouched
Set up banquet tables.0.0%0.0%100.0%3.18untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

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.

What this means in practice

Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.