Have an Obituary To Write? Some Turn to ChatGPT

Should AI or a real person write an obituary? Credit: Pixabay

Let’s face it — AI is disrupting many industries, and that includes the end-of-life sector. In the news recently, examples have popped up, including the case of Michael Bommer, who found out he was terminally ill. In 2024, he told NPR, he made an AI copy of himself to leave behind for his family.

Not without controversy, however. That sounds like just about every other case of AI that we hear about, including this one: writing an obituary.

The Washington Post in August reported on this rising trend in the end-of-life industry. Some funeral homes are using AI to generate an obituary, a piece of creative writing that has its own section in newspapers. The article quotes some as arguing that AI alleviates the pressure of writing one for those who are grieving, as the funeral home either assists or takes on the responsibility of writing it with the families.

As the Post reports, AI has already written tens of thousands of obituaries nationwide.

To some, such as a sales executive at a cemetery in Cincinnati, the AI obituary software is “truly amazing.” He complimented the “great adjectives and descriptions” that it produced.

Using AI for Obits: “Great” or “Soulless”?

Others see the tool as “soulless and insincere.” An obituary TikToker emphasized the importance of imperfection in the art of the obituary. She appreciates that obituaries “act as a mirror” so we “can reflect on our own lives” — flaws and all. Some feared stilted language and that AI-generated obituaries would sound like entries on LinkedIn.

As they say: different strokes for different folks. There are proponents of this AI tool and those who distrust it, if not reject it. But the Post notes the funeral industry seems to see AI-assisted obits as “the wave of the future.”

This means those going through an end-of-life process will most likely be confronted with the option of using AI to generate an obituary. So the decision is up to the individual, whether they want to use it or not, depending on whether they believe a human hand is essential or whether a little assistance from an arguably “better” program would help them to do a “better” job.

That word is in quotes because that seems to be the fear — that humans can’t do it as well as the program. But to others, that might be the point — that there is no need to do it “better.”

Human Touch Might Serve Mourners as Well

As the Post reports, as with other industries, funeral homes are trying to use AI to make their systems more efficient. Their argument includes the possibility of avoiding having to walk on eggshells with those during a time of grief.

But that motive raises understandable questions and concerns: Is this another effort at trying to eliminate a natural human process, grief?

And not just for the family members or friends faced with writing the obituary. As one ethicist quoted in the Post piece reflected, the act of reading an obituary written by a real person helps lead to a “kind of real sorrow that can lead to closure for the people they left behind.”

What’s the best way to remember the life of a loved one in writing? Credit: Pixabay