Human edge, steady

Ophthalmic laboratory technicians

Cut, grind, and polish eyeglasses, contact lenses, or other precision optical elements. Assemble and mount lenses into frames or process other optical elements. Includes precision lens polishers or grinders, centerer-edgers, and lens mounters.

AI Resistance Index 68 of 99

More resilient than most: more resilient than 68% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +2.2% by 2035, slower than average. The work leans on physical dexterity.

AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.

Median pay (2025): $39,460
Job growth to 2035: +2.2%
Openings a year: 2,200
People doing it (2025): 18,600
Usual route in: High school diploma, then moderate on-the-job training

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Where people already use AI for this work

Read documents or materials to inform work processes
Select materials or equipment for operations or projects
Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance

From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).

Work AI rarely helps with

Shape materials to create products
Position workpieces or materials on equipment
Position materials or components for assembly

What the work looks like

Mount and secure lens blanks or optical lenses in holding tools or chucks of cutting, polishing, grinding, or coating machines.
Inspect lens blanks to detect flaws, verify smoothness of surface, and ensure thickness of coating on lenses.
Set up machines to polish, bevel, edge, or grind lenses, flats, blanks, or other precision optical elements.
Inspect, weigh, and measure mounted or unmounted lenses after completion to verify alignment and conformance to specifications, using precision instruments.
Shape lenses appropriately so that they can be inserted into frames.

From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.

What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects

Fewer of these jobs, as continued automation makes the optical lens fabrication process more labor efficient.
Fewer of these jobs, as continued automation makes the eyewear fabrication process more labor efficient.

Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook

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Food processing workers, all otherHuman edge, growing, Index 86, +5.5%

Also known as: Lab Technician (Laboratory Technician), Optical Lab Technician (Optical Laboratory Technician), Optical Technician, Surfacing Technician, Edger Technician, Finishing Lab Technician, Lens Grinder and Polisher, Line Operator.

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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.