Job Check
Optometrists
Diagnose, manage, and treat conditions and diseases of the human eye and visual system. Examine eyes and visual system, diagnose problems or impairments, prescribe corrective lenses, and provide treatment. May prescribe therapeutic drugs to treat specific eye conditions.
10 main tasks · most important first
Your main tasks and AI
Importance- 01Examine eyes, using observation, instruments, and pharmaceutical agents, to determine visual acuity and perception, focus, and coordination and to diagnose diseases and other abnormalities, such as glaucoma or color blindness.Mostly human for now
- 02Analyze test results and develop a treatment plan.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 03Prescribe, supply, fit and adjust eyeglasses, contact lenses, and other vision aids.Mostly human for now
- 04Prescribe medications to treat eye diseases if state laws permit.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 05Educate and counsel patients on contact lens care, visual hygiene, lighting arrangements, and safety factors.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 06Remove foreign bodies from the eye.Mostly human for now
- 07Provide patients undergoing eye surgeries, such as cataract and laser vision correction, with pre- and post-operative care.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 08Consult with and refer patients to ophthalmologist or other health care practitioner if additional medical treatment is determined necessary.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 09Prescribe therapeutic procedures to correct or conserve vision.AI could speed this up, with extra tools
- 10Provide vision therapy and low-vision rehabilitation.Mostly human for now
Tasks from O*NET® 31.0 (US Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0, changed by us), most important first. “Already use” comes from Anthropic’s data on real work chats with Claude; “could speed up” from task ratings made with GPT-4 in 2023.
Four studies, side by side
None is a forecast of job lossToo little dataNot enough work use was seen to measure. This does not mean the job is safe from AI.Anthropic, 2026
30%of this job’s tasks an AI model could do in half the time, counting tasks that need extra tools as half (rated in 2023).Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock, 2023
Above 16% of jobsin how often and how well AI helped with this job’s work in Microsoft Copilot chats (2024 data).Microsoft Research (Tomlinson et al.), 2025
Your human edge
The main tasks with no real AI use seen and no big speed-up expected. This is where your skill counts most today.
- Examine eyes, using observation, instruments, and pharmaceutical agents, to determine visual acuity and perception, focus, and coordination and to diagnose diseases and other abnormalities, such as glaucoma or color blindness.
- Prescribe, supply, fit and adjust eyeglasses, contact lenses, and other vision aids.
- Remove foreign bodies from the eye.