China has long held funeral customs that treat the deceased with the same respect as the living. Today, the development and application of AI technology not only assist the living in bidding a final farewell to the departed but also imbue this ancient concept with new meaning.
"We use photos provided by family members to create customized AI digital avatars of the deceased and produce short films that narrate their life stories during the farewell ceremony," said Gao Xiaoxia, planning director at the Lanzhou Fushouyuan Cemetery in Gansu Province.
Missing the chance for a final goodbye is a regret that weighs heavily on many. With the widespread application of AI technology, the living now have a virtual opportunity to properly say farewell and make up for this regret. Gao Xiaoxia explained that starting in 2025, the cemetery has been using AI technology to offer services such as AI digital memorials, restoration of old photographs, and biographical short films for bereaved families, making the final farewell more compassionate.
It is understood that AI technology is primarily used during farewell ceremonies before burial. Recently, a mother who was unable to see her son one last time broke down in tears during the ceremony upon seeing an AI-reconstructed likeness of her relative, providing an outlet for her pent-up emotions.
"When families experience the significant trauma of losing a loved one, they need psychological support," Gao Xiaoxia stated. "The application of AI technology enhances the ceremonial aspect of farewells, offering greater emotional value to the bereaved and helping them release their feelings."
China has always emphasized honoring the deceased and remembering ancestors. As lifestyles change, the specific ways Chinese people express their sentiments are also evolving. For a populous country with a large number of internet users and high mobility, "online memorials" have become a practical necessity.
In recent years, funeral homes in Lanzhou have promoted online memorial services, allowing the public to use WeChat mini-programs to create free memorial sites. These platforms offer functions such as editing biographies, laying virtual flowers, and leaving messages of remembrance, providing a more civilized and low-carbon way to express grief.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, on the first day of the Qingming Festival holiday, April 4, online memorial platforms across the country served 266,200 users. On March 31, the Lanzhou Fushouyuan Cemetery showcased AI digital funeral services.
The newly revised "Regulations on Funeral and Interment Management," which took effect on March 30, explicitly advocates for technological innovation and application in the funeral industry. Today, the use of new technologies like AI in this field is gaining wider public acceptance.
Offline memorial activities are also placing greater emphasis on environmental sustainability. During the Qingming Festival, the Lanzhou Fushouyuan Cemetery was lush with vegetation, with chrysanthemums placed quietly before tombstones as a tribute to the departed.
Dai Qiong, the cemetery's general manager, noted that an increasing number of visitors are choosing to express their grief by laying flowers. The proportion of people opting for eco-friendly burial methods, such as garden or lawn interments, is also rising year by year. In her view, returning ashes to nature reflects a shift in funeral attitudes from "resting in peace underground" to "coexisting with nature."
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