Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.
U.S. Workers
79,690
Median Salary
$46,560
10-Year Growth
+2.9%
Annual Openings
6,800
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
21 of 21 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
AI: Fully automatable - Automated lensometers, interferometry and machine-vision QC systems can verify that finished lenses meet grinding specifications accurately.
Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
AI: Fully automatable - Digital pupillometers, 3D face scanners and automated measuring devices can accurately capture bridge, eye size, temple length, vertex distance, PD and optical centers.
Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.
AI: Fully automatable - Modern lensometers and lens analyzers provide automated, precise determination of existing lens prescriptions without manual interpretation.
Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
AI: Fully automatable - Recordkeeping of prescriptions, work orders and payments is routine data management and can be fully automated with software and AI.
Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications.
AI: Fully automatable - Lens surfacing, edging and coating processes are already highly automated in labs and can fabricate lenses to prescription specifications under machine control.
Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses.
AI: Fully automatable - Providing instructions on how to wear and care for eyeglasses is readily automated via multimedia guidance, chatbots and AR coaching.
Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
AI: Fully automatable - Generating detailed work orders and instructions from prescription and frame/lens specs is fully automatable with current rule-based software and AI templates integrated with lab machinery.
Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.
AI: Fully automatable - Retrieving prior records and verifying prescriptions can be fully automated through EHR integrations, secure messaging APIs, and identity/consent workflows in current systems.
Order and purchase frames and lenses.
AI: Fully automatable - Ordering and purchasing inventory can be fully automated using procurement software, supplier APIs, inventory triggers, and payment workflows available today.
Perform administrative duties such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.
AI: Fully automatable - Inventory/sales tracking, insurance form submission, and basic bookkeeping are routine, data-driven tasks already widely automated by software and AI workflows.
Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses.
AI: Fully automatable - Lens edging and coating are routinely performed by automated CNC and coating machines controlled by software, making these tasks fully automatable in many labs.
Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.
AI: Partial - Evaluating prescriptions against vocational and avocational needs requires individualized clinical judgment and patient interaction that AI can support but not fully replace.
Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.
AI: Partial - Recommendation of lenses, coatings, and frames can be generated by recommendation systems, but in-person fitting, aesthetic judgment, and patient preferences limit full automation.
Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and other goods related to eyes in general.
AI: Partial - AI and e-commerce systems can handle most sales, recommendations and transactions online, but in-person upselling, fitting and some regulatory constraints (e.g., prescription validation) limit full automation.
Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
AI: Partial - AR try-on and recommendation engines can suggest frames based on style, color and measurements, but subjective styling judgment and nuanced fit adjustments often still require human involvement.
Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.
AI: Partial - Robotics can perform some frame adjustments, but the fine, variable tactile work of heating, shaping and bending frames in retail settings remains largely manual and not universally automated.
Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.
AI: Partial - AI can demonstrate insertion/removal and provide coaching via video or AR, but cannot physically assist or guarantee correct technique for all users, so it is a partial substitute.
Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames.
AI: Partial - Cutting, edging and fitting lenses involves delicate manual adjustments and tactile skills that robots can partially perform but not reliably replace in all cases as of 2025.
Repair damaged frames.
AI: Partial - Diagnosing frame damage and producing repair instructions or guides is automatable, but the hands‑on metal/plastic repair work still requires human manual skill.
Supervise the training of student opticians.
AI: Partial - AI can provide training content, assessments, and supervisory analytics, but cannot fully replace human mentors for clinical judgment and hands‑on skills supervision.
Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise.
AI: Partial - AI can design optimal displays and schedules and generate visual layouts, but physically arranging and maintaining merchandise still requires human labor.