A Dutch couple have discovered that love, romance — and artificial intelligence — don’t always satisfy the law. A court has ruled that their marriage is not legally valid after finding their wedding vows, written with help from ChatGPT, failed to meet legal requirements.
The couple believed they were officially married during an informal civil ceremony in April 2025 in Zwolle. Wanting something personal, they asked a friend to officiate, who turned to OpenAI’s ChatGPT to help craft the vows.
The court, however, ruled that the AI-generated wording focused on love, laughter and being a “crazy couple,” but never included the legally required declaration that both parties accept the formal obligations of marriage under Dutch law.
As a result, the marriage was never validly formed and was wrongly recorded in the civil registry. Despite the couple’s plea to keep their original wedding date, the court ruled that while it understood their feelings, it could not bend the law — proving that even true love needs the right legal script.
