AI exposure: Ophthalmic Medical Technologists
Assist ophthalmologists by performing ophthalmic clinical functions and ophthalmic photography. Provide instruction and supervision to other ophthalmic personnel. Assist with minor surgical procedures, applying aseptic techniques and preparing instruments. May perform eye exams, administer eye medications, and instruct patients in care and use of corrective lenses.
Reading this score
computedAt 10.8% of weighted task load, Ophthalmic Medical Technologists sits at the 15th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 70.4% 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 31 tasks it averages 2.52 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 Calculate corrections for refractive errors, at 60.0%. The least is Maintain ophthalmic instruments or equipment, at 0.0%. A gap of 60.0% 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 healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 18.5% across the group's 89 roles, with 77 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 31 tasks, 1 are currently banded exposed, 4 assisted and 26 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 | 1.15 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.52 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 2.05 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 2.27 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.32 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.18 | 0-3 |
Task by task
31 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calculate corrections for refractive errors. | 60.0% | 40.0% | 0.0% | 4.60 | exposed |
| Take and document patients' medical histories. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 4.90 | assisted |
| Perform ophthalmic triage, in the office or by phone, to assess severity of patients' conditions. | 20.0% | 55.0% | 25.0% | 4.47 | assisted |
| Measure and record lens power, using lensometers. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.60 | assisted |
| Create three-dimensional images of the eye, using computed tomography (CT). | 13.8% | 23.8% | 62.5% | 4.20 | untouched |
| Educate patients on ophthalmic medical procedures, conditions of the eye, and appropriate use of medications. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.40 | assisted |
| Take anatomical or functional ocular measurements, such as axial length measurements, of the eye or surrounding tissue. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.75 | untouched |
| Measure corneal thickness, using pachymeter or contact ultrasound methods. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.16 | untouched |
| Measure corneal curvature with keratometers or ophthalmometers to aid in the diagnosis of conditions, such as astigmatism. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.15 | untouched |
| Measure the thickness of the retinal nerve, using scanning laser polarimetry techniques to aid in diagnosis of glaucoma. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Conduct tonometry or tonography tests to measure intraocular pressure. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.95 | untouched |
| Measure visual acuity, including near, distance, pinhole, or dynamic visual acuity, using appropriate tests. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.70 | untouched |
| Conduct ocular motility tests to measure function of eye muscles. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.35 | untouched |
| Conduct visual field tests to measure field of vision. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.20 | untouched |
| Perform fluorescein angiography of the eye. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.07 | untouched |
| Conduct tests, such as the Amsler Grid test, to measure central visual field used in the early diagnosis of macular degeneration, glaucoma, or diseases of the eye. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.90 | untouched |
| Conduct binocular disparity tests to assess depth perception. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.68 | untouched |
| Assess abnormalities of color vision, such as amblyopia. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.63 | untouched |
| Conduct low vision blindness tests. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 3.50 | untouched |
| Perform slit lamp biomicroscopy procedures to diagnose disorders of the eye, such as retinitis, presbyopia, cataracts, or retinal detachment. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.62 | untouched |
| Collect ophthalmic measurements or other diagnostic information, using ultrasound equipment, such as A-scan ultrasound biometry or B-scan ultrasonography equipment. | 7.5% | 17.5% | 75.0% | 4.47 | untouched |
| Supervise or instruct ophthalmic staff. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Photograph patients' eye areas, using clinical photography techniques, to document retinal or corneal defects. | 6.7% | 18.3% | 75.0% | 4.00 | untouched |
| Instruct patients in the care and use of contact lenses. | 5.0% | 20.0% | 75.0% | 3.53 | untouched |
| Call patients to inquire about their post-operative status or recovery. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 3.57 | untouched |
| Assess refractive condition of eyes, using retinoscope. | 2.9% | 9.6% | 87.5% | 4.25 | untouched |
| Perform advanced ophthalmic procedures, including electrophysiological, electrophysical, or microbial procedures. | 2.1% | 10.4% | 87.5% | 3.31 | untouched |
| Administer topical ophthalmic or oral medications. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.65 | untouched |
| Clean or sterilize ophthalmic or surgical instruments. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.45 | untouched |
| Assist physicians in performing ophthalmic procedures, including surgery. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.11 | untouched |
| Maintain ophthalmic instruments or equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | 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.