Dispensing opticians
An AI agent can at least partly carry out 35.3% of the task time of dispensing opticians, and finish 0.0% alone. Most of the rest requires physical presence.
228th of 433 · interval 14.9–56.9
201st of 433 · interval 0.0–0.0
231st of 433 · interval 22.4–43.2
task statements rated by two models and weighted by importance and frequency. World employment: 0.5 million.
How the tasks rate
What stops the agent
Share of task weight flagged by each barrier; a task can carry several.
| Task statement (O*NET occupation) | Weight | Level | Sonnet · Haiku | Share | Human time | Barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measure clients' bridge and eye size, temple length, vertex distance, pupillary distance, and optical centers of eyes, using measuring devices.Opticians, Dispensing | 6.0% | L0 | L1L0 | 10% | 12 min | Physical presence, Trust and care, Access to systems |
| Assist clients in selecting frames according to style and color, and ensure that frames are coordinated with facial and eye measurements and optical prescriptions.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.8% | L1 | L1L2 | 32% | 30 min | Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems |
| Recommend specific lenses, lens coatings, and frames to suit client needs.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.8% | L2 | L2L2 | 58% | 25 min | Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems |
| Evaluate prescriptions in conjunction with clients' vocational and avocational visual requirements.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.7% | L2 | L2L2 | 52% | 15 min | Accountability, Trust and care |
| Heat, shape, or bend plastic or metal frames to adjust eyeglasses to fit clients, using pliers and hands.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.7% | L0 | L0L0 | 4% | 11 min | Physical presence, Trust and care |
| Maintain records of customer prescriptions, work orders, and payments.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.6% | L2 | L2L3 | 72% | 18 min | Accountability, Access to systems |
| Verify that finished lenses are ground to specifications.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.4% | L0 | L0L1 | 16% | 10 min | Physical presence, Accountability, Access to systems |
| Sell goods such as contact lenses, spectacles, sunglasses, and goods related to eyes, in general.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.4% | L1 | L1L2 | 32% | 30 min | Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems |
| Instruct clients in how to wear and care for eyeglasses.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.1% | L1 | L1L2 | 30% | 10 min | Physical presence, Trust and care |
| Determine clients' current lens prescriptions, when necessary, using lensometers or lens analyzers and clients' eyeglasses.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.0% | L0 | L0L1 | 10% | 9 min | Physical presence, Accountability |
| Prepare work orders and instructions for grinding lenses and fabricating eyeglasses.Opticians, Dispensing | 5.0% | L2 | L2L2 | 62% | 15 min | Accountability, Access to systems |
| Perform administrative duties, such as tracking inventory and sales, submitting patient insurance information, and performing simple bookkeeping.Opticians, Dispensing | 4.6% | L2 | L2L2 | 68% | 1.0 h | Physical presence, Access to systems |
| Fabricate lenses to meet prescription specifications.Opticians, Dispensing | 4.5% | L0 | L0L2 | 15% | 35 min | Physical presence, Accountability, Access to systems |
| Obtain a customer's previous record, or verify a prescription with the examining optometrist or ophthalmologist.Opticians, Dispensing | 4.5% | L2 | L2L2 | 58% | 18 min | Accountability, Access to systems |
| Show customers how to insert, remove, and care for their contact lenses.Opticians, Dispensing | 4.2% | L1 | L1L1 | 15% | 20 min | Physical presence, Trust and care |
Show the other 6 tasks
| Task statement (O*NET occupation) | Weight | Level | Sonnet · Haiku | Share | Human time | Barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order and purchase frames and lenses.Opticians, Dispensing | 4.1% | L2 | L2L3 | 75% | 32 min | Access to systems |
| Assemble eyeglasses by cutting and edging lenses, and fitting the lenses into frames.Opticians, Dispensing | 4.0% | L0 | L0L1 | 6% | 30 min | Physical presence, Access to systems |
| Arrange and maintain displays of optical merchandise.Opticians, Dispensing | 3.5% | L0 | L1L0 | 8% | 45 min | Physical presence, Access to systems |
| Repair damaged frames.Opticians, Dispensing | 3.5% | L0 | L0L1 | 12% | 20 min | Physical presence, Trust and care |
| Grind lens edges, or apply coatings to lenses.Opticians, Dispensing | 3.3% | L0 | L0L1 | 6% | 18 min | Physical presence |
| Supervise the training of student opticians.Opticians, Dispensing | 3.2% | L1 | L1L2 | 30% | 2.4 h | Physical presence, Accountability, Trust and care, Access to systems |
Level: consensus of the two models (the lower level when they disagree). Share: part of the task’s working time an agent could take over. Human time: minutes a competent person needs for one instance, as estimated by the models.
Exposure is not delegation
| Measure | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| ADI (this index) | 35.3% | 48 |
| Eloundou et al. (2024), GPT exposure β | 0.303 | 48 |
| Felten et al. (2021), AI occupational exposure | 0.101 | 54 |
| Webb (2020), AI patent exposure | 34 | 25 |
| Eisfeldt et al. (2026), generative AI exposure | 0.024 | 17 |
| Anthropic Economic Index, observed use | 0 | 16 |
Earlier indices measure whether AI can touch a task; ADI measures how much of it an agent can carry out from a goal. – : the source does not cover this occupation.
Neighbouring occupations
Dashed line: dispensing opticians (35.3%).
Espinal Maya, Cristian, and Santiago Jiménez Londoño. 2026. ADI v2026.1: Agent Delegability Index data, code and MCP server. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23552918. Record: Dispensing opticians (ISCO-08 3254), https://balamlabs.org/adi/occupations/3254
@misc{espinal2026adidata,
title = {{ADI} v2026.1: Agent Delegability Index data, code and {MCP} server},
author = {Espinal Maya, Cristian and Jim{\'e}nez Londo{\~n}o, Santiago},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Zenodo},
version = {v2026.1},
doi = {10.5281/zenodo.23552918},
url = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23552918},
note = {Record: Dispensing opticians (ISCO-08 3254)}
}The same record as static JSON, with its citation: /adi/v2026.1/isco/3254.json.