AI exposure: Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians
Cut, grind, and polish eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other precision optical elements. Assemble and mount lenses into frames or process other optical elements. Includes precision lens polishers or grinders, centerer-edgers, and lens mounters.
Reading this score
computedAt 10.2% of weighted task load, Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians sits at the 14th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 85.1% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 18 tasks it averages 2.75 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Examine prescriptions, work orders, or broken or used eyeglasses to determine specifications..., at 55.0%. The least is Remove lenses from molds and separate lenses in containers for further processing or storage, at 0.0%. A gap of 55.0% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within production occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 16.2% across the group's 107 roles, with 78 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.
What would move this score. Of 18 tasks, 2 are currently banded exposed, 0 assisted and 16 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 0.58 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.75 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.19 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.47 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.00 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 0.97 | 0-3 |
Task by task
18 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examine prescriptions, work orders, or broken or used eyeglasses to determine specifications for lenses, contact lenses, or other optical elements. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 4.57 | exposed |
| Select lens blanks, molds, tools, and polishing or grinding wheels, according to production specifications. | 50.0% | 25.0% | 25.0% | 4.49 | exposed |
| Immerse eyeglass frames in solutions to harden, soften, or dye frames. | 18.3% | 6.7% | 75.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Position and adjust cutting tools to specified curvature, dimensions, and depth of cut. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.48 | untouched |
| Control equipment that coats lenses to alter their reflective qualities. | 16.7% | 8.3% | 75.0% | 4.23 | untouched |
| Inspect lens blanks to detect flaws, verify smoothness of surface, and ensure thickness of coating on lenses. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 4.74 | untouched |
| Set dials and start machines to polish lenses or hold lenses against rotating wheels to polish them manually. | 8.3% | 4.2% | 87.5% | 4.33 | untouched |
| Mount and secure lens blanks or optical lenses in holding tools or chucks of cutting, polishing, grinding, or coating machines. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.78 | untouched |
| Set up machines to polish, bevel, edge, or grind lenses, flats, blanks, or other precision optical elements. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.73 | untouched |
| Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.69 | untouched |
| Shape lenses appropriately so that they can be inserted into frames. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.67 | untouched |
| Clean finished lenses and eyeglasses, using cloths and solvents. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.62 | untouched |
| Mount, secure, and align finished lenses in frames or optical assemblies, using precision hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.60 | untouched |
| Adjust lenses and frames to correct alignment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.50 | untouched |
| Assemble eyeglass frames and attach shields, nose pads, and temple pieces, using pliers, screwdrivers, and drills. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.43 | untouched |
| Repair broken parts, using precision hand tools and soldering irons. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.72 | untouched |
| Lay out lenses and trace lens outlines on glass, using templates. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.26 | untouched |
| Remove lenses from molds and separate lenses in containers for further processing or storage. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.32 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.