# Will ophthalmic medical technicians be replaced by AI? Updated October 2026 Ophthalmic medical technicians score 17 of 100 for AI exposure. 77% of their task time still needs a person. AI speeds up the other 23%. - **23%** AI helps - **77%** Needs a person Low exposure Lower than 85% of the 923 occupations we scored. ## Task by task We graded 20 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can't do any of them end to end yet. It speeds up 5 and leaves 15 to people. | Task | AI exposure | | --- | --- | | Call patients to inquire about their post-operative status or recovery. Scripted post-op calls suit AI voice tools; staff handle escalations. | 55% AI helps | | Take and document patients' medical histories. Patient interview is live; AI drafts charting from intake forms. | 50% AI helps | | Assist patients to select eyewear. Frame fit and style advice; AI tools aid virtual try-on. | 40% AI helps | | Instruct patients in the care and use of contact lenses. Live lens handling teaching; AI drafts education materials. | 25% AI helps | | Maintain ophthalmic instruments or equipment. Physical upkeep and calibration; AI helps with maintenance logs. | 22% AI helps | ## How ophthalmic medical technicians compare All occupations (923) Healthcare practitioners and technical (89) **Ophthalmic medical technicians score 17**, marked by the dark line. Each dot is a score, darker where more occupations share it. The short marks show the averages, 37 for all occupations and 34 for healthcare practitioners and technical. ## Pay and outlook in the US Median pay $45,570 a year, May 2025 People employed 71,010 in the US, May 2025 Projected change in jobs +21.4% from 2024 to 2034 ## Skills to build - Measure visual acuity with pinhole and near charts - Administer eye drops and oral medications chairside - Assist patients to insert and remove contact lenses - Adjust and repair spectacles with hand tools - Calibrate tonometers and keep maintenance logs in AcuityPro - Chart histories and reviews in EyeMD EMR ## Safer roles nearby 2 related occupations with lower scores. - [Surgical assistants11 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/surgical-assistants/) - [Surgical technologists15 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/surgical-technologists/) ## Questions about ophthalmic medical technicians and AI Will AI replace ophthalmic medical technicians? Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly post-operative recovery calls and medical history charting. What stays with people is hands-on eye care, since drops, lens insertion, pressure testing and procedure support all need a person in the room. Which tasks is AI taking over? Post-operative follow-up calls, with an exposure score of 55, suit scripted AI voice tools, and staff handle only the escalations. Medical history intake, scored 50, gains drafted charting from intake forms, while the live patient interview stays with the technician. Eyewear selection, scored 40, gains virtual try-on tools. Which tasks stay with people? Assisting physicians in procedures and surgery, scored 3, needs a person physically in the room. Administering eye drops, scored 5, requires hands on the patient. Tonometry, scored 8, needs physical contact with the patient and device to measure intraocular pressure. How can ophthalmic medical technicians stay valuable? Take on the hands-on work, such as lens insertion teaching and drop administration, that patients need in person. Run the AI-drafted post-op call script and step in on escalations. Check AI-drafted charting in EyeMD EMR against intake forms before you sign off. Keep tonometers calibrated and logged in AcuityPro. ## Related jobs - [Ophthalmic medical technologists29 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/ophthalmic-medical-technologists/) - [Cardiovascular technologists27 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cardiovascular-technologists/) - [Medical assistants32 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/medical-assistants/) - [Neurodiagnostic technologists35 out of 100](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/neurodiagnostic-technologists/) ## Next steps for ophthalmic medical technicians - ### Check your job Your job title is a rough guide. Your actual tasks decide your score. Paste your job description or CV and see which of your tasks AI can do. [Check your job](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/ai-exposure-checker/) [Check your CV](https://www.aigentcy.com/tools/cv-checker/) ### Check which roles in your team AI can take on We map your team's tasks, show what AI can do today and build the automations that pay back first. [Book an AI audit](https://www.aigentcy.com/audit/) ## Related topics - [**Jobs AI can't replace**Cement masons score lowest, at 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-cant-replace/) - [**Jobs most at risk from AI**Proofreaders score highest, at 76.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-most-exposed-to-ai/) - [**High-paying jobs with low AI exposure**Radiologists earn a median $420,860 and score 46.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/high-paying-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Entry-level jobs with low AI exposure**Cement masons need little prior training and score 8.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/entry-level-jobs-low-ai-exposure/) - [**Jobs AI speeds up the most**For natural sciences managers, AI speeds up 96% of task time.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs-ai-speeds-up/) - [**AI and jobs in Malta**15 iGaming roles graded task by task.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/malta/) - [**Skills that keep work human**The skills to build in the jobs AI changes least.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/skills/) - [**Jobs A to Z**Every job we publish, by first letter.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/jobs/) - [**AI exposure by industry**Average scores for 22 occupation groups.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/industries/) - [**Write a CV screening software can read**How applicant tracking systems read a CV, and what to change.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/cv-screening-guide/) - [**AI for businesses**The tasks to automate first in each team and industry.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-for/) - [**How we score AI exposure**The grading, the weights and every source.](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/) Occupation data from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and modified by Aigentcy. O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Wage, employment and projection data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. EU occupation names from ESCO, European Commission. AI usage signals from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY) and Microsoft Research (CC BY 4.0). [Methodology and sources](https://www.aigentcy.com/ai-exposure/methodology/). Scores © Aigentcy. Quote them with a link to the page.