AAMI Newsletter — Issue No. 8
Preparing compassionate professionals for the world’s most dignified, AI-proof career.
Welcome to issue four of the AAMI Newsletter. We promise not to clutter your inbox — only updates once or twice a month on all things AAMI. In this edition:
Learning to Serve in the Digital Age (Dustin Caprioli Q&A)
Enroll for Summer Session (Classes Start May 4)
The Big Story (Leonardo DiCaprio and Hollywood Are Coming…)
Hot Topics (Quick headlines)
AAMI Graduate on the Future-Proof Profession of Funeral Service
In an era when artificial intelligence is reshaping entire industries, one profession stands apart: funeral service. Not because it has resisted technology, but because what it demands most — genuine human connection — is something no algorithm can replicate.
Dustin Caprioli knows this firsthand. A U.S. Navy veteran and Parsons-trained fashion designer, Dustin arrived at the American Academy McAllister Institute carrying a life’s worth of varied experience. Today, he is a licensed funeral director at Riverside Memorial Chapel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side — and a compelling voice for why AAMI’s accredited funeral service education program prepares students for both the timeless and the technological.
On choosing funeral service: “My dad once told me, ‘Pull the trigger and don’t look back.’ That’s how I live my life. I absolutely love my job.”
On what AAMI taught him: “AAMI taught me structure. Structure is consistency that creates trust. Trust isn’t just a foundation — it’s an umbrella with multiple dimensions, and in our industry, trust is essential for long-term success.”
On AI and the future of funeral service: “I believe the funeral profession is fundamentally AI-proof because human connection cannot be replaced. I have seen automation in first-call services — it can be helpful for directors, but it may harm the funeral home, as it affects our first interaction with grieving families.”
On advice to current AAMI students: “Stay curious. Curiosity is a discipline. Even after you graduate, earn your funeral director license, and enter the field, we are always in a perpetual state of learning. If your passion goes beyond the aesthetic into the reality of the profession, your constant curiosity is the clearest sign you are where you are supposed to be.”
Dustin’s path — from naval service to fashion to funeral care — mirrors the kind of multidimensional student AAMI has always attracted: people who have lived, observed, and chosen purpose over convenience. His story is one chapter in a longer one: a century of shaping funeral professionals who are ready for whatever the world brings next. As New York City’s longest-standing mortuary science institution enters its centennial year, it continues to produce graduates who understand that no technology can replace the hand held in grief, or the quiet dignity of a life honored well.
We’re seeing our highest application numbers in years. So, don’t wait.
The summer semester around the corner. Our new 60-second application makes it easier than ever to apply. Enroll now and earn a degree when our graduates see a 90% post-graduate employment rate nationwide.
Time is running out—LEARN MORE.
The Big Story
Leonardo DiCaprio and Hollywood Are Coming for the Funeral Industry – Here's What We Know
A new documentary from some of Hollywood’s biggest names is headed to the death care industry’s doorstep — and professionals in the field would do well to know what’s coming.
Death Boom, a feature-length documentary directed by Jessica Chandler, is currently in post-production with a high-profile team: filmmaker Eli Roth, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions, and QC Entertainment (Get Out, BlacKkKlansman). The film reunites Roth and Appian Way, who previously collaborated on Fin, the shark-finning documentary that contributed to the shutdown of shark kill tournaments along the East Coast of the U.S. That film had real policy consequences — a signal that this team knows how to move public opinion.
AAMI linked to the original Deadline story in Issue 7 of the institute’s newsletter.
Death Boom examines the environmental and mental health impacts of embalming, cremation, and traditional burial, told through the perspectives of death care workers themselves as they prepare for the passing of 77 million baby boomers. The film also takes on the political, religious, and corporate forces it says are standing in the way of greener burial alternatives becoming widely accessible.
No one outside the production has seen the finished film yet, so it’s too early to know how fairly or accurately the profession may be portrayed. What is clear is that Death Boom will reach a mass audience — and that makes it worth watching closely.
What that audience may not know is just how rigorously regulated the death care profession already is. The FTC’s Funeral Rule, enacted in 1984 and amended in 1994, is a federal regulation requiring funeral providers to give consumers detailed information about the goods and services they purchase, with the FTC conducting undercover inspections every year to verify compliance. Beyond federal oversight, most states require candidates for funeral directing and embalming licensure to complete accredited mortuary college programs, pass national and state board examinations, undergo background checks, and complete supervised internships. These actions are part of a rigorous credentialing process comparable to many healthcare professions. Funeral homes and embalming facilities are also required operate under OSHA workplace safety standards.
For AAMI graduates and students, the very professionals this film may depict, Death Boom may be less a verdict than a conversation starter.
The green burial movement is growing, consumer preferences are shifting, and mainstream media is paying attention. The most effective response isn’t defensiveness; it’s engagement. Death care professionals bring decades of licensed expertise, genuine care for the families they serve, and firsthand knowledge of the practical, public health, and regulatory realities that shape current practices.
Death Boom does not yet have a release date.
✍️ AAMI Blog: What Makes Mortuary Science Education Different… - Read Now
🧑💼 New Leaders: NFDA Announces New Board Candidates - See Who
🎪 Exhibitors Welcome: NYSFDA Annual Convention Registration – Learn More
📜 Protecting Ground: House OKs ancestral burial place returns - Check News
