AI Day 2026: Responsible AI use in eye care

The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in supporting disease detection and clinical decision making, and the regulatory landscape around this evolving technology, were key points for discussion at AI Day 2026.

OT, in partnership with the AOP, hosted a programme of webinars on 13 September, dedicated to unpacking the opportunities and limitations of AI in optometry. The event saw 1206 attendees across the day of webinars.

Dr Ian Beasley, head of education and commercial partnerships at the AOP and OT clinical editor, facilitated the education programme.

He explained: “AI is developing at an extraordinary pace and it’s important that optometry is part of the conversation about what that means for our profession and, ultimately, for our patients.”

Mike Horler, optometry consultant at Cascader Ltd – a spin-out company from Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London – led a session on clinical decision support AI tools.

Horler’s session, sponsored by Specsavers, provided an overview on AI terminology, individual uses, and the future for AI and eye care – particularly in terms of the NHS 10-year health plan.

Dr Peter Hampson, clinical and policy director for the AOP, led a session titled: Walking the tightrope of professionalism at the technology frontier.

The session outlined the rapidly evolving regulatory landscape of AI and both the profession-specific considerations for optometry, and the wider frameworks that apply to AI in UK healthcare.

The focus of the session, Hampson said, was on law and regulation, as well as: “who is accountable when you use AI and how this is a fast-moving area.”

The programme closed with a presentation by Professor Pearse Keane, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, professor of artificial medical intelligence at UCL’s Institute of Ophthalmology, and chief medical advisor at Cascader.

Keane’s session, sponsored by the Topcon Healthcare Innovation Centre, explored: From screening to population health – why optometrists must lead the next generation of AI research.

The presentation considered how AI can support the detection of eye disease and systemic disease, why research in real-world optometric settings is critical, and how practitioners can help to generate the evidence needed to bring healthcare from the eye into routine clinical practice.

Highlighting why there is a role for AI in eye care, Keane highlighted the pressure on ophthalmology in the NHS and the resulting effects of delays in patients being seen and treated. This, he emphasised, is not just a problem for the NHS but in global eye care.

Reflecting on AI Day, Beasley commented: “The event demonstrated that AI isn’t simply about the technology, but about how we use it responsibly, integrate it into clinical practice and identify where it can genuinely add value. We had some excellent speakers who brought a range of thought-provoking perspectives to the discussion.”