# Optometrists

> Diagnose, manage, and treat conditions and diseases of the human eye and visual system. Examine eyes and visual system, diagnose problems or impairments, prescribe corrective lenses, and provide treatment. May prescribe therapeutic drugs to treat specific eye conditions.

- **SOC code:** 29-1041.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1041-00
- **Also known as:** Optometrist, Optometry Doctor (OD), Therapeutic Optometrist
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Examine eyes, using observation, instruments, and pharmaceutical agents, to determine visual acuity and perception, focus, and coordination and to diagnose diseases and other abnormalities, such as glaucoma or color blindness.
- Analyze test results and develop a treatment plan.
- Prescribe, supply, fit and adjust eyeglasses, contact lenses, and other vision aids.
- Prescribe medications to treat eye diseases if state laws permit.
- Educate and counsel patients on contact lens care, visual hygiene, lighting arrangements, and safety factors.
- Remove foreign bodies from the eye.
- Provide patients undergoing eye surgeries, such as cataract and laser vision correction, with pre- and post-operative care.
- Consult with and refer patients to ophthalmologist or other health care practitioner if additional medical treatment is determined necessary.
- Prescribe therapeutic procedures to correct or conserve vision.
- Provide vision therapy and low-vision rehabilitation.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Medicine and Dentistry _(knowledge)_
- Biology _(knowledge)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Reading Comprehension _(essential_skill)_
- Active Listening _(essential_skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Writing _(essential_skill)_
- Speaking _(essential_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Written Comprehension _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Biology _(Specialized Skill)_
- Reading Comprehension _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Writing _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Apple Safari _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Edge _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Mozilla Firefox _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Intuit QuickBooks _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Access _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft SQL Server _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Web browser software _(in demand)_
- Accra Med Software Filopto
- AltaPoint Data Systems AltaPoint Vision
- Babcock Winx Pro

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 40th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 60th percentile (Moderate) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 50th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 17th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 31st percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 8.0% growth (Growing fast); 2.4k annual openings; 47.8k → 51.6k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $134,830; 41,890 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** — automation, 83% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** learning.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Educate and counsel patients on contact lens care, visual hygiene, lighting arrangements and safety factors. _(0.7% of measured AI use; learning)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me educate and counsel patients on contact lens care, visual hygiene, lighting arrangements and safety factors.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

---
_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-29-1041-00_