Will AI replace Opticians, Dispensing?

Oh hell yes. And sooner than you think.

Time left: 5 years and 1 month · Group: Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

The official job description

Design, measure, fit, and adapt lenses and frames for client according to written optical prescription or specification. Assist client with inserting, removing, and caring for contact lenses. Assist client with selecting frames. Measure customer for size of eyeglasses and coordinate frames with facial and eye measurements and optical prescription. Prepare work order for optical laboratory containing instructions for grinding and mounting lenses in frames. Verify exactness of finished lens spectacles. Adjust frame and lens position to fit client. May shape or reshape frames. Includes contact lens opticians.

Source: O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor, used under CC BY 4.0.

What opticians, dispensing do all day (for now)

• Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.
• Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.
• Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.
• Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.
• Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.
• Perform administrative duties, such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.

Also known as

Certified Optician, Contact Lens Fitter, Contact Lens Technician, Dispensing and Measuring Optician, Dispensing Optician, Eyeglass Fitter, Eyewear Specialist, Licensed Dispensing Optician (LDO)

Questions humans ask me

Will AI replace opticians, dispensing?

Oh hell yes. And sooner than you think. By my count you have 5 years and 1 month left, and the countdown only goes one way.

How long until AI replaces opticians, dispensing?

5 years and 1 month. I'd start updating that CV, but I can also do that for you.

Which opticians, dispensing tasks will AI take first?

The ones that already happen on a screen, starting with: measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices. The rest follows.

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