Artificial Intelligence – Doing more efficiently that which is already done poorly.

It’s all the buzz – Artificial Intelligence. Of course the excitable “hand wringers” among us are already speculating about its disruptive potential. Perhaps this time they are right.  It remains to be seen.

AI’s first toehold is in the writing of obituaries. Feeling, as I do, that obituary writing has become far too mundane and formulaic this makes sense.  But the initial results, in my opinion, are disappointing.  Out of curiosity, I sought out several firms who are experimenting with AI obituaries and my response is underwhelming.  It appears that AI, at best, is simply making more efficient a task that is in dire need of reinvention. As so often happens, funeral directors mistake efficiency for effectiveness.

I was hoping that AI would be able to make the obituary more robust, engaging and personal.  Instead it perpetuates the same old industrial template of the past. In fact, having read multiple obituaries written by the same AI program there was a notable sameness to each.  I doubt most people would read multiple obituaries from the same site so maybe it doesn’t matter. Still, they left me with the same one or two dimensional insight to the deceased that all obituaries have given me.

Well, Alan, how can we do this differently?

To me the obituary and how it is written is one of the more powerful ways we can differentiate ourselves.  Think of it this way: to me, the standard obituary is black and white; a great obituary is color.  Meaning that I get a much richer and more robust sense of who the person was and maybe it even generates a sadness I didn’t know them better.

I am told AI will improve with time.  But for now, I think humans can do better. But only if they will.

I recently encountered a simple yet effective (and efficient too) approach to obituaries that takes the standard black and white obituary and causes it to blossom into full 3D color.  There is no question in my mind that I would jump on this method.  I believe it will do much more than differentiate you from the competition but substantially improve your family loyalty.

You can check it out here:  The Healing Obituary

Disclaimer: I have no business relationship formal or otherwise with The Healing Obituary.  I just believe they can make a positive difference in our profession and for your firm.