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.
U.S. Workers
41,890
Median Salary
$134,830
10-Year Growth
+8.0%
Annual Openings
2,400
Typical entry: Doctoral or professional degree
8 of 10 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.
Educate and counsel patients on contact lens care, visual hygiene, lighting arrangements and safety factors.
AI: Fully automatable - AI systems can generate and deliver personalized education and counseling on contact lens care, visual hygiene, lighting, and safety reliably via chat, apps, and printed materials.
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.
AI: Partial - AI can assist with image analysis, screening, and decision support for eye exams, but cannot perform hands-on instrument-based examinations or administer pharmaceutical agents independently.
Prescribe, supply, fit and adjust eyeglasses, contact lenses and other vision aids.
AI: Partial - AI can generate prescriptions, lens parameters, and fitting recommendations, but cannot physically supply, fit, or adjust eyeglasses and contact lenses without a human practitioner.
Analyze test results and develop a treatment plan.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze diagnostic test results and propose evidence-based treatment plans, but clinical judgment, contextualization, patient communication, and legal responsibility require a licensed clinician to finalize care.
Prescribe therapeutic procedures to correct or conserve vision.
AI: Partial - AI can provide decision-support, diagnostic suggestions, and guideline-based recommendations but cannot independently perform the full clinical examination, hands-on assessment, or legally authorized prescribing decisions required for therapeutic procedures.
Consult with and refer patients to ophthalmologist or other health care practitioner if additional medical treatment is determined necessary.
AI: Partial - AI can identify cases that meet referral criteria and recommend consultation pathways, but cannot assume legal responsibility or perform the formal clinical consultation and referral coordination without human oversight.
Provide patients undergoing eye surgeries, such as cataract and laser vision correction, with pre- and post-operative care.
AI: Partial - AI can support pre- and post-operative care with education, monitoring, and remote triage, but cannot replace in-person assessments, surgical follow-up examinations, or legally required clinical interventions.
Provide vision therapy and low vision rehabilitation.
AI: Partial - AI can deliver and adapt vision-therapy exercises and low-vision rehab programs digitally and track progress, but in-person assessment, hands-on training, and complex individualized therapy still require clinicians.
Prescribe medications to treat eye diseases if state laws permit.
AI: Not automatable - AI cannot legally prescribe medications or hold the licensure required to prescribe; it can only assist a licensed practitioner who issues the prescription.
Remove foreign bodies from the eye.
AI: Not automatable - Removing foreign bodies from the eye is an invasive, hands-on clinical procedure requiring manual dexterity and real‑time clinical decision-making that AI cannot perform autonomously by 2025.