AI Moves From Evaluation to Implementation at AAO 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) dominated conversations at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2026 annual meeting, according to ophthalmologists who shared their main takeaways with The American Journal of Managed Care^®.

Several experts described the field as approaching a turning point. “There seems to be a critical inflection point happening where people are really adopting artificial intelligence in the office,” Grayson W. Armstrong, MD, MPH, director, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, said, adding that patients are also using these tools in ways that could help address health disparities and gaps in access to care.

Aaron Y. Lee, MD, MSCI, chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Washington University (WashU) Medicine, said ophthalmologists tend to be more comfortable with technology than many other specialties, which has made them early adopters. With AI featured across podium talks, posters, and the exhibit hall, “we’re very, very close to reaching a tipping point where all of a sudden these last-mile problems are going to go away, and we will see an explosion of health tech AI tools.”

The research itself is changing, too. Helia Ashourizadeh, MD, postdoc research fellow, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, noted that earlier meetings focused mostly on testing how well deep learning models performed, while this year’s work focused more on putting those technologies into practice. For glaucoma care, Fiaz Zaman, MD, FACS, ophthalmologist at Houston Eye Associates, said AI could eventually support individualized therapy by identifying which medications or surgical options will work best for each patient.

Zaman also pointed to sustained-release therapies. Approved options are already being used “at a good rate,” and new candidates such as SpyGlass Pharma’s Bimatoprost Drug Pad-IOL System are in development. According to Zaman, these therapies could give patients good disease control and less vision loss, along with “the freedom to live the life that they want to live.”

Not every takeaway was positive. Ravi D. Goel, MD, comprehensive ophthalmologist, Regional Eye Associates; volunteer faculty, Wills Eye Hospital, warned that rural access and Medicare payment reform could “potentially harm patients, harm patient access to care, and harm cataract surgery.” Even so, he said he remains “bullish on the future of ophthalmology,” crediting the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit on display at the meeting.