AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 29-2081.00
Will AI replace Opticians, Dispensing?
Opticians, Dispensing: AI can already handle 15 of 21 tasks; the work mostly needs a standard-tier model.
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Every task, scored
The 21 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Opticians, Dispensing, from most to least exposed. 15 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.
| Task | AI exposure | Evidence | Model tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Perform administrative duties, such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Order and purchase frames and lenses. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs. | Estimated | Frontier | |
| Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Supervise the training of student opticians. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Repair damaged frames. | Estimated | Efficient | |
| Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise. | Estimated | Standard | |
| Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames. | Estimated | No tier |
Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 0 of 21 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 21 of 21. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.
The model tier this role needs
A standard-tier model or lower covers 81% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 95% of the work is something AI can address at some tier, and 5% is hands-on.
Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.
Wages, employment and outlook
- US employment
- 73,530
- Median annual wage
- $47,260
- Middle half of earners
- $38,820 to $61,700
- Projected change, 2024 to 2034
- +2.9%
Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034.
Adjacent roles
The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.
- Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians 72% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure23
- Optometrists 71% skill overlap, about 10 months to move Exposure37
- Orthoptists 62% skill overlap, about 14 months to move Exposure46
- Ophthalmic Medical Technicians 59% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure32
- Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric 59% skill overlap, about 15 months to move Exposure46
Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.
Questions about Opticians, Dispensing and AI
Will AI replace Opticians, Dispensing?
AI already handles 15 of the 21 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 61 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +2.9% from 2024 to 2034.
What is the AI exposure of Opticians, Dispensing?
61 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 0 of the 21 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 21 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.
Which Opticians, Dispensing tasks can AI already do?
The tasks with the highest exposure are: Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications; Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist; Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices. They are three of the 15 tasks that reach 60 or more.
What AI model tier does this role need?
A standard-tier model or lower covers 81% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.
How many people work as Opticians, Dispensing, and what do they earn?
73,530 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $47,260 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +2.9% from 2024 to 2034.
How to cite
Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.
JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Opticians, Dispensing. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/opticians-dispensing
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