Game changing genetics takes center stage, and Prof. Pearse Keane asks an unthinkable question about AI in ophthalmology on ARVO 2025 Day 4.
“Are you sick of AI yet?”
This is an eyebrow-raising statement for Day 4 of the vision science research year’s biggest stage, the annual meeting of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO 2025).
But coming from the mouth of Prof. Pearse Keane (United Kingdom), a pioneer and patron saint of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology, it seems downright blasphemous. More on that later.
READ MORE: ARVO-Genentech Keynote Expounds Ethical Vision for AI in Eye Care
First, our coverage of ARVO 2025 rolls on here for Day 4, and we’re reporting on the cream of an abundant crop of ophthalmic research here in Salt Lake City. Today was jam packed full of super symposia, abstracts and papers, and from all of our highlight sessions, one non-artificial intelligence theme dominated— the cutting-edge science fuelling the next generation of regenerative ophthalmic therapies.
Our morning highlight sessions were back-to-back prize presentations—the Weisenfeld and Cogan Award Lectures. For the Weisenfeld Lecture, ocular pathologist Dr. Geeta K. Vemuganti (India) dove into the intriguing relationship between cancer and regenerative therapies and the role stem cells play in both. Dr. Alex Hewitt’s Cogan Award Lecture presented his argument that the future is now for polygenic risk assessment in glaucoma—and the possibilities are even more mind-blowing than you can imagine.
READ MORE: Award Lectures: Pioneers in Stem Cell Research and Glaucoma Genomics
Our afternoon highlight session picked up on both of the themes in these lectures, with top researchers showing off some of the massive potential of mutation-agnostic regenerative retinal gene therapies. From the unexpected lessons frog models can teach us to retinal organoids, you won’t want to miss what went down in this session. Warning, it was a wild one!
We’re also reporting on some industry news here from Salt Lake City—how about EssilorLuxottica and the standing-room only session in the exhibition hall on Day 2 that has everyone talking? Myopia management sessions are proving to be among the hottest of the conference, and in the session, EssilorLuxottica Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Norbert Gorny and myopia specialist Prof. Mark Bullimore revealed new insights on underlying disease mechanisms, the treatments that target them and how we can overcome the inertia of the modern regulatory landscape to treat the children that need it most.
READ MORE: Rethinking Myopia Management With EssilorLuxottica at ARVO 2025
The great AI inundation
Sick and tired of hearing about AI? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone—so is Prof. Pearse Keane (sort of), and he’s one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic.
The issue, of course, isn’t that AI isn’t useful—and it certainly isn’t a fad, Prof. Keane noted in a speech in the exhibition hall today. And if it feels like AI is getting a little stale, it’s only because there’s a vast number of applications that the mainstream isn’t aware of—and how these technologies are going to shape the ophthalmic clinic of 2030 was the topic of his mini presentation.
“We are on the cusp of artificial intelligence reinventing the eye examination and clinic for the 21st century,” he said.
With eye care services overwhelmed, Prof. Keane believes that AI offers critical solutions beyond image analysis.
By 2030, Keane predicts AI will transform practice through:
- Differential diagnosis tools that reason through multimodal analysis
- Visual question-answering where doctors can upload images and get instant analysis
- Tools that supercharge the skillsets of non-specialist ophthalmologists and get more specialized care to patients in any resource environment.
In the future, “general ophthalmologists will be able to diagnose keratoconus in one patient, some obscure retinal disease in the next and predict glaucoma progression in another,” Prof. Keane said.
So if you’re ‘sick’ of AI, it could all just be a matter of perspective—and if Prof. Keane’s presentation was any indication, the time is now to explore the behind-the-scenes innovations that are already shaping the clinics of tomorrow.
That’s it for us here on Day 4—don’t forget to join us tomorrow for our last day of coverage from Salt Lake City. While it’s hard to say that we’ve saved the best for last after a short week of some seriously exciting science, tomorrow’s ARVO 2025 coverage lineup is as fascinating as it has ever been. See you then!
READ MORE: Looking for fresh insights from ARVO 2025? You’ll find them all here.
Editor’s Note: Reporting for this story took place during the annual meeting of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO 2025) being held from 4-8 May in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States.
