Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used in the research of ophthalmic disease diagnosis, and it may have an impact on medical and ophthalmic practice in the future. This study explores the general application and research frontier of artificial intelligence in ophthalmic disease detection. Citation data were downloaded from the Web of Science Core Collection database to evaluate the extent of the application of Artificial intelligence in ophthalmic disease diagnosis in publications from 1 January 2012, to 31 December 2021. This information was analyzed using CiteSpace.5.8. R3 and Vosviewer. A total of 1,498 publications from 95 areas were examined, of which the United States was determined to be the most influential country in this research field. The largest cluster labeled "Brownian motion" was used prior to the application of AI for ophthalmic diagnosis from 2007 to 2017, and was an active topic during this period. The burst keywords in the period from 2020 to 2021 were system, disease, and model. The focus of artificial intelligence research in ophthalmic disease diagnosis has transitioned from the development of AI algorithms and the analysis of abnormal eye physiological structure to the investigation of more mature ophthalmic disease diagnosis systems. However, there is a need for further studies in ophthalmology and computer engineering.