AI exposure Personal care and service
Will AI replace embalmers?
Embalmers. US occupation 39-4011.
The reading
0.0%
of the time embalmers spend on their work goes on tasks where AI is already being used to do that work.of embalmers' working hours go on tasks AI has already started taking off their plate.
Ranked 346 of 756 US occupations. No AI use seen in the work yet, along with 410 other occupations.No handover started yet, along with 410 other occupations.
Per cent of working time Square-law scale
Average US job 7.7%
Among the least exposed jobs there are.Still waiting for liberation.
What AI already does for embalmersWhat embalmers no longer do alone
O*NET lists 26 tasks for embalmers. None of them shows meaningful AI use at work yet.
What it does not touch, yetWhat still needs a human
26 of the 26 tasks show no AI use at work in the data.
- Apply cosmetics to impart lifelike appearance to the deceased.Core task
- Arrange for transporting the deceased to another state for interment.Core task
- Arrange funeral home equipment and perform general maintenance.Core task
- Assist with placing caskets in hearses and organize cemetery processions.Core task
- Attach trocar to pump-tube, start pump, and repeat probing to force embalming fluid into organs.Core task
- Clean and disinfect areas in which bodies are prepared and embalmed.Core task
Show the other 20
- Close incisions, using needles and sutures.Core task
- 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.Core task
- Conform to laws of health and sanitation and ensure that legal requirements concerning embalming are met.Core task
- Direct casket and floral display placement and arrange guest seating.Core task
- Dress bodies and place them in caskets.Core task
- Incise stomach and abdominal walls and probe internal organs, using trocar, to withdraw blood and waste matter from organs.Core task
- Insert convex celluloid or cotton between eyeballs and eyelids to prevent slipping and sinking of eyelids.Core task
- Join lips, using needles and thread or wire.Core task
- Maintain records, such as itemized lists of clothing or valuables delivered with body and names of persons embalmed.Core task
- Make incisions in arms or thighs and drain blood from circulatory system and replace it with embalming fluid, using pump.Core task
- Pack body orifices with cotton saturated with embalming fluid to prevent escape of gases or waste matter.Core task
- Perform special procedures necessary for remains that are to be transported to other states or overseas, or where death was caused by infectious disease.Core task
- Perform the duties of funeral directors, including coordinating funeral activities.Core task
- Remove the deceased from place of death and transport to funeral home.Core task
- Reshape or reconstruct disfigured or maimed bodies when necessary, using dermasurgery techniques and materials such as clay, cotton, plaster of Paris, and wax.Core task
- Serve as pallbearers, attend visiting rooms, and provide other assistance to the bereaved.Core task
- Supervise funeral attendants and other funeral home staff.Core task
- Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.Core task
- Assist coroners at death scenes or at autopsies, file police reports, and testify at inquests or in court, if employed by a coroner.
- Press diaphragm to evacuate air from lungs.
How that compares
Among the 27 personal care and service occupations, embalmers rank 13. The group averages 1.9%, and its most exposed job is Concierges at 18.8%. The average US occupation sits at 7.7%.
What this does and does not mean
Exposure is observed use, not a forecast. Anthropic maps work conversations with Claude onto the tasks O*NET lists for each job and asks, of the tasks AI could speed up, which are actually being used for at work. A use that does the task outright counts in full and a use that assists a person counts half. The task scores are averaged into the occupation figure by the share of time spent on each task.
A high figure means AI is already part of how this work gets done. It does not mean anyone has been replaced. Anthropic's own reading of the labour market finds no systematic rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting exposed jobs.No measurable rise in unemployment among exposed workers so far, and about 14% fewer 22 to 25 year olds starting these jobs. Gap years for everyone. Labor market impacts, 5 March 2026.
Task list and titles from O*NET 31.0 by the US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Scores from the Anthropic Economic Index (CC BY). Checked 1 November 2026. How the ranking works.