Will AI replace Embalmers?
AI can do 7% of the work Embalmers do at least twice as fast. Real use has not caught up: none of their tasks show up in real AI use yet, but AI could speed up 2 of them. Robots can technically handle 5 physical tasks. 19 still need a person.
AI is already doing this0 · 0% of time
People already use AI for these tasks in real work, based on Anthropic's analysis of how Claude is used.
- Real AI use has not reached any of this job's tasks yet.
AI could do this next2 · 7% of time
AI can speed these up by at least half, but real use has not caught up yet. These are next in line.
- Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.4% of time
- Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.4% of time
Robots can technically do this5 · 14% of time
Physical tasks that today's robots can perform in at least some settings. Robots are cost competitive for very few tasks so far, so this change moves slower.
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.Robots: purpose built settings5% of time
- Assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions.Robots: purpose built settings4% of time
- Arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance.Robots: purpose built settings4% of time
- Direct casket and floral display placement and arrange guest seating.Robots: purpose built settings2% of time
- Press diaphragm to evacuate air from lungs.Robots: purpose built settingsunder 1% of time
Still needs a person19 · 78% of time
No real AI use, no proven AI speedup and no robot that can do it yet. This is the part of the job to build on.
- Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.14% of time
- Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.10% of time
- Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.8% of time
- Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.7% of time
- Dress bodies and place them in caskets.7% of time
- Conduct interviews to arrange for the preparation of obituary notices, to assist with the selection of caskets or urns, and to determine the location and time of burials or cremations.5% of time
- Serve as pallbearers, attend visiting rooms, and provide other assistance to the bereaved.5% of time
- Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.4% of time
- Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.4% of time
- Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.2% of time
- Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.2% of time
- Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.2% of time
- Close incisions, using needles and sutures.1% of time
- Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.1% of time
- Perform special procedures necessary for remains that are to be transported to other states or overseas, or where death was caused by infectious disease.1% of time
- Insert convex celluloid or cotton between eyeballs and eyelids to prevent slipping and sinking of eyelids.1% of time
- Arrange for transporting the deceased to another state for interment.1% of time
- Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.1% of time
- Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.under 1% of time
Your week is not the average
Describe what you actually do and get a personal report: your own tasks, what AI can already do, what stays yours and a 90 day plan.
What this means
Little of this work suits AI or today's robots. Most tasks depend on hands, presence or people skills.
What to do next
- Get ahead on the 2 tasks AI could do next. These move as tools improve, so learning them early pays off.
- Keep an eye on the 5 physical tasks robots can technically do. Cost keeps most robots out of work today, so this shift is slower.
- Build on the 19 tasks that stay human. This is where your judgment, skill and relationships matter most.
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