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Professionals · code 2267

Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians

Optometrists and ophthalmic opticians provide diagnosis, management and treatment services for disorders of the eyes and visual system. They counsel on eye care and prescribe optical aids or other therapies for visual disturbance. Tasks include - (a) examining patients’ eyes and conducting diagnostic tests to assess ocular health and determine the nature and extent of vision problems and abnormalities; (b) testing visual function using specialized instruments and equipment for measuring visual acuity and refractive error, function of visual pathways, visual fields, eye movements, freedom of vision and intraocular pressure; (c) detecting, diagnosing and managing eye disease, including prescribing medications for treatment; (d) consulting with and referring patients to ophthalmologists or other health professionals if additional medical treatment is necessary; (e) detecting and diagnosing eye movement disorders and defects of binocular function, and planning and managing treatment programmes, including counselling patients in eye exercises to coordinate movement and focusing of eyes; (f) prescribing corrective eyeglasses, contact lenses and other vision aids, and checking optical devices for performance, safety, comfort and lifestyle; (g) advising on visual health matters such as contact lens care, vision care for the elderly, optics, visual ergonomics, and occupational and industrial eye safety. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Ophthalmic optician - Optometrist - Orthoptist Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Ophthalmologist - 2212 - Dispensing optician - 3254

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 183 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • optometrist
  • orthoptist

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

76.3
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 23.7 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 23.7 = 76.3

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

38.4
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, matched to one US job

40.2
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 55.4 · hand skill 46.4 · cramped spaces 18.8 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

What this number leaves out This job rates 38.4 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 36, while the average is 23.7. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 36

    Prescribing corrective eyeglasses, contact lenses and other vision aids, and checking optical devices for performance, safety, comfort and lifestyle

    Low
  2. 26.5

    Consulting with and referring patients to ophthalmologists or other health professionals if additional medical treatment is necessary

    Low
  3. 25.5

    Testing visual function using specialized instruments and equipment for measuring visual acuity and refractive error, function of visual pathways, visual fields, eye movements, freedom of vision and intraocular pressure

    Low
  4. 23

    Advising on visual health matters such as contact lens care, vision care for the elderly, optics, visual ergonomics, and occupational and industrial eye safety.

    Very Low
  5. 21.5

    Detecting, diagnosing and managing eye disease, including prescribing medications for the treatment of eye disease

    Very Low
  6. 18.5

    Detecting and diagnosing eye movement disorders and defects of binocular function, and planning and managing treatment programmes, including counselling patients in eye exercises to coordinate movement and focusing of eyes

    Very Low
  7. 15

    Examining patients’ eyes and conducting diagnostic tests to assess ocular health and determine the nature and extent of vision problems and abnormalities

    Very Low

7 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

One Australian job matches, but only partly: not everyone in it does this job. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
68
AI does it for you
23

Helping wins by 45 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 2514

Compared with similar jobs

There are 92 jobs in the “Professionals” group, averaging 61.2. This one is above that.