At the 2025 Optometric Management Symposium, Bryan Wolynski, OD, presented on how artificial intelligence can help patients who have low vision. Here, he discusses the key takeaways from his lecture, "Artificial Intelligence in the Next Era of Low Vision Care."  

Transcript:

Hi, I'm Dr. Bryan Wolynski, Chief of Vision Rehabilitation at Cleveland Sight Center. We just completed a talk titled “AI, or Artificial Intelligence, in the Next Era of Low Vision Care.”

We are living through 1 of the most transformative times in history. When OpenAI launched ChatGPT, it took only 5 days to reach 1 million users. In comparison, when Netflix launched, it took them 3-and- a-half years to reach that milestone. Artificial intelligence is now part of everything and is evolving faster than any technology before it.

However, we are not without concerns—job replacement, doomsday scenarios, and worries from researchers and scholars who believe we may be advancing AI too quickly. Despite these concerns, the benefits AI brings to people with low vision have been game-changing.

AI’s roots began with rule-based systems—algorithms that followed simple “if this, then that” logic. Currently, we’ve moved into the era of simple AI with incredible advancements, including generative AI and multimodal capabilities, which we discussed in our lecture.

Still, we are truly in the toddler phase of AI. We’re learning how to communicate with it, and it’s learning all about us. Even at this early stage, AI is already enhancing accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision—ushering in what one paper calls “Accessibility 2.0.”

Many believe we are approaching the next phase of AI, called AGI—Artificial General Intelligence—a system that can learn, adapt, and reason across different modalities and domains.

We reviewed several case studies during our talk:

• An app called Seeing AI, which assists people with macular degeneration in reading.

• A professional with Stargardt disease using JAWS Picture Smart AI to describe charts and graphs, helping them compete effectively in the workplace.

• A smart cane with AI capabilities that enhances orientation and mobility.

• A woman with diabetic retinopathy using AI-powered smart glasses to stay socially engaged. The glasses weren’t bulky or futuristic-looking—they were stylish and confidence-boosting.

AI is enabling independence for people with vision loss in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. For example, dynamic video with real-time AI can provide audio descriptions of everything it sees.

We also discussed several important studies about the use, trust, and reliability of AI for people who are blind or have low vision.

One study, “Investigating Use Cases of AI-Powered Scene Description Applications for Blind and Low Vision People” by Gonzalez (2024), found that among 16 blind and low vision participants, trust in AI averaged only 2.4 out of 5. Accuracy needed significant improvement. Even though only 50% of participants could recognize when AI made an error, most preferred to evaluate their own images without sighted assistance.

Another paper, “Emerging Practices for LLM (Large Language Model) Assistance for People with Visual Impairment” by Z et al., interviewed 14 visually impaired participants who used Be My AI over 2 months. They identified several challenges, including AI’s lack of goal-oriented responses—it often described what was present rather than explaining how to complete a task. They also noted issues with AI hallucinations, where the system fabricated information, as well as limited navigation capabilities.

Yet another study by Adnan and Das, titled “AI as the King of Knowledge,” interviewed 19 blind participants who primarily used mainstream AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, and Be My AI. They discussed limitations related to context, accuracy, and privacy—highlighting the need to double-check results and protect user data.

More research is needed, especially larger studies with more diverse participants and varying levels of technological comfort.

The future of low vision care is about guiding how AI can best serve people. Optometrists and vision rehabilitation professionals will play a crucial role in teaching safe, practical, and ethical uses of these tools.

The next era of low vision care and interventions will be AI-assisted, human-guided, and patient-empowered.

Thank you. OM