Dutch couple are “not married” due to ChatGPT speech fail

A couple who took their wedding vows based on a speech made using AI tool ChatGPT will have to do it all again, a court in Zwolle has decided, because the speech did not meet official requirements.

The couple had chosen a friend as their civil registrar, a so-called ‘eendagsbab’ (registrar for a day), who had then used ChatGTP to write a speech with “a lighter tone”.

However, the ceremony did not include the mandatory declaration that binds a couple to ‘do their duty to one another as required by their wedded state’. Without it, the marriage is void.

The local council discovered the omission later and informed the prosecution office of the mistake, which then asked the judge to annul the marriage contract.

The couple, who had chosen the date April 19 because it had a special significance for them, protested about the move, saying the official civil registrar had been present and made no objection.

They asked the judge to at least keep the date of their wedding but the judge refused. “The court understands that the marriage date recorded in the certificate is important to the man and the woman but,” the statement said, “cannot disregard what is laid down in the law.”