3 Practical Ways Funeral Directors Can Use AI in Daily Operations Today

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t some far-off, futuristic tool. It’s here now, and it has the power to meaningfully transform how funeral professionals operate. From streamlining workflows to enhancing family experiences, AI is becoming an indispensable asset in modern death care. In this article, we’ll explore three practical and accessible ways that funeral directors can start using AI today to save time, reduce stress, and offer better service to families.

At Parting Stone, we’re focused on innovation in death care, always looking toward the future. We’re proactively researching how to integrate AI into our operations and the broader funeral space in ways that increase efficiency and elevate the family experience, while preserving the irreplaceable human connection that’s essential in times of grief.

1. Record Family Meetings with AI-Powered Tools Like Granola

One of the most stressful parts of funeral work is trying to remember every detail shared in an arrangement meeting. Did the family say they wanted the service at 9 am or 10 am? Was that aunt’s name spelled with an “ie” or a “y”? Did they want cremated remains or solidified remains? These details can make or break a family’s death planning experience—and getting them wrong can damage trust.

Granola is a software solution that allows funeral homes to record meetings with the approval of the family and automatically generate searchable transcripts from your smartphone device. The audio is recorded passively and non-invasively from an app and uploaded to its platform, where AI creates accurate transcripts of the conversation. The most remarkable feature of this application is the ability to search all past conversations with questions like “how many thumb print pendants did the family want?” (Note: Granola is not a HIPAA-compliant application)

Key features:

Searchable transcripts: Quickly find answers to specific questions like, “Did they ask for rose arrangements?”
Family sharing: If the family also uses Granola, you can securely send them a link to the transcript so they can search for and revisit important conversations with you.
Archiving: Keep a complete, organized archive of all arrangements and family meetings for reference, compliance, or internal training.

Why it matters:

Accuracy: Eliminates human error in note-taking.
Efficiency: Reduces the need to follow up with families about forgotten details.
Transparency: Builds trust by giving families complete access to what was discussed.

Granola can also be used during preneed conversations, team meetings, and follow-ups, turning every verbal conversation into a valuable, searchable asset for the entire team.

Download Granola here.

2. Use AI Tools Like ChatGPT to Write Obituaries Faster and Better

Writing obituaries is one of the most emotionally nuanced and time-sensitive tasks that funeral directors face. Each life deserves to be remembered with care and dignity, but often, the pressure of tight deadlines and the emotional toll on families can make the writing process difficult. Enter ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is a free large language model (LLM) developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like text based on a short prompt. By feeding it a few key details about the deceased—such as their name, date of birth, date of death, notable life events, personality traits, and names of surviving family members—you can quickly generate a high-quality obituary draft.

Example:

Let’s say a family tells you:

John Smith was a volunteer firefighter who loved fishing and coaching little league.
He lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico and worked at Parting Stone.
He is survived by his wife, three children, and six grandchildren.

With this input, ChatGPT can generate a paragraph like:

“John Smith, 72, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family. John devoted his professional life to meaningful work at Parting Stone, where he helped transform the way families remember and honor their loved ones. His calm presence, steady leadership, and deep compassion made him a beloved colleague and friend to many.

Outside of work, John was a committed volunteer firefighter, always ready to lend a hand in times of need. He was passionate about giving back to his community and never hesitated to put others before himself.

John also found immense joy in life’s quiet moments—fishing at sunrise, cheering from the dugout as a little league coach, and telling stories around the dinner table. His humor, warmth, and unwavering kindness left a lasting mark on everyone who knew him.

He is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, his three children, and six grandchildren, all of whom he cherished deeply.

A private ceremony will be held by the family to honor John’s life. In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to honor John’s memory by spending time outdoors, volunteering in your community, or simply sharing a heartfelt story—just as he so often did.”

Why it matters:

Saves time: Especially when you’re juggling multiple services.
Consistency: Ensures all obituaries maintain a high standard.
Flexibility: You can ask ChatGPT to write in different tones (formal, poetic, humorous) or lengths (short bio for programs, full obituary for newspapers).

Bonus: If you’re already using Granola to record family arrangement meetings, you can use the transcript to automatically generate a detailed prompt for ChatCPT. This allows the obituary to reflect the exact stories, sentiments, and values the family expressed—making the end result feel deeply personal and authentic, with minimal extra work.

3. Create Memorial Websites in Minutes with Lovable

Families increasingly expect beautiful, digital memorials that reflect the full scope of a person’s life. But creating these pages can be time-consuming and technically challenging for funeral homes.

Lovable is an AI-powered website builder that can generate full memorial pages using just a few prompts or recorded stories. By combining data from family meetings (which you might already be recording with Granola), Lovable can create a tasteful, customized celebration-of-life website in minutes.

This AI application is more sophisticated, but the technology is quickly becoming accessible to anyone, including those with minimal technical experience.

What you get:

Photos and video galleries
Obituary and life stories
Service information

You can communicate the vibe, design, colors, fonts, and media or give Lovable discretion to choose the design as it sees fit. AI fills in the content based on prompts. You can also deploy each site on a custom domain, such as johnsmithmemorial.com, offering families a unique and meaningful way to share and remember their loved one (this requires slightly more advanced knowledge).

Bonus: If you’re already using Granola to record family arrangement meetings and you have already used Chat GPT to generate an obituary, you can use these assets to automatically generate a detailed prompt for Lovable. Prompt ChatGPT to “Create a detailed prompt for Loavable to develop a modern memorial page to reflect the life of the deceased using the following granola transcript and obituary.”

Why it matters:

Modern experience: Aligns with how people celebrate life today.
Speed: Sites can be ready the same day as the arrangement meeting.
Emotional value: Helps families stay connected, especially if they’re geographically dispersed.

You can even offer this as a premium add-on or include it in a higher service tier.

See Parting Stone’s new webpage designed using Lovable here.

Final Thoughts: AI Is Here to Help, Not Replace

AI tools like ChatGPT, Granola, and Lovable aren’t designed to replace the human touch—they’re built to amplify your professionalism, compassion, and efficiency. By freeing up time from administrative tasks, you can spend more time focusing on what matters most: serving families with care.

These three tools represent just the beginning of what’s possible. Funeral homes that adopt AI thoughtfully will gain a competitive edge, deliver more value to families, and future-proof their operations in an evolving industry.

Interested in working with a future-focused company to offer solidified remains to your families? Submit a retailer application to Parting Stone here.

P.S. We built our retailer application page using Lovable, the same AI-powered website builder mentioned above. The process was incredibly fast and intuitive—just a few prompts and the site was live. It’s a great example of how funeral professionals can use simple AI tools not only for families but also to streamline internal operations and grow their business.