The Deep View: AI writing obituaries!

Posted on August 6, 2025 by michelleclarke2015
AI is writing obituaries for families paralyzed by grief
Jeff Fargo was crying in bed two days after his mother died when he opened ChatGPT and spent an hour typing about her life. The AI returned a short passage memorializing her as an avid golfer known for her “kindness and love of dogs.” After it was published, her friends said it captured her beautifully.
“I just emptied my soul into the prompt,” Fargo told The Washington Post. “I was mentally not in a place where I could give my mom what she deserved. And this did it for me.”
The funeral industry has embraced AI writing tools with surprising enthusiasm. Passare’s AI tool has written tens of thousands of obituaries nationwide, while competitors like Afterword and Tribute offer similar features as core parts of their funeral management software.
Some funeral homes use ChatGPT without telling clients, treating nondisclosure like sparing families from other sensitive funeral details. A Philadelphia funeral worker told the Washington Post that directors at his home “offer the service free of charge” and don’t walk families through every step of the process.
Consumer-facing tools are emerging too. CelebrateAlly charges $5 for AI-generated obituaries and has written over 250 since March, with most requesters asking for a “heartfelt” tone.
The AI sometimes “hallucinates” details, inventing nicknames, life events, or declaring someone “passed away peacefully” without knowing the circumstances.Casket maker Batesville offers an AI tool that recommends burial products based on the deceased’s hobbies and beliefs.Nemu won second place at the National Funeral Directors Association’s Innovation Awards for using AI to catalogue and appraise belongings left behind.
Critics worry about the “flattening effect” of outsourcing grief to machines, but the practical benefits are undeniable. For families paralyzed by grief and funeral directors managing tight schedules, AI offers a solution when words fail to come naturally. As one funeral software executive put it: “You’re dealing with this grief, so you sit at your computer and you’re paralyzed.”
Unknown's avatar

About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment