AI (DeepL, ChatGPT) and Official Documents: Why It Is Not Enough

DeepL, ChatGPT and Google Translate have transformed our relationship with translation. They are fast, convenient and often impressive. But for an official document in Belgium, artificial intelligence is not enough: it has no legal value whatsoever. Here is why, without demonising the tool.

📖 Also read: AI vs human translator · machine vs professional · sworn translation guide

AI translates quickly, but certifies nothing

Engines such as DeepL or ChatGPT produce a readable translation within seconds. It is an excellent tool to understand a text or prepare a draft. But a translation only has official value if it is carried out, signed and stamped by a sworn translator. A machine does not take an oath and bears no legal responsibility. For the details of this distinction, see our comparison AI vs human translator.

For official use, only a sworn translation is accepted

Before a municipal authority, a court, a civil registry service or a university, a translation generated by AI is systematically refused. These recipients require a sworn translation bearing the signature and stamp of a sworn translator registered in the national register. It is this official endorsement, and not the linguistic quality, that makes the document admissible. See our guide to sworn translation in Belgium.

The concrete risks of an AI translation for official use

Beyond the lack of legal value, entrusting a sensitive document to a public engine carries very real risks:

• Legal and terminological errors: a Belgian legal term rendered incorrectly can change the meaning of a deed or a judgment.
• Non-compliant layout: seals, mentions, tables and official formulas are not reproduced according to the authority's requirements.
• No signature or stamp: nothing certifies the faithfulness of the translation, an essential condition for its recognition.
• Confidential data exposed: pasting a birth certificate or a contract into a free tool means handing personal data to a third party, with no guarantee on how it is processed.

The right use of AI: a tool, not an end in itself

This is not a trial of AI. Used well, it is valuable. The healthy reflex is to separate two uses: AI to get a rough idea, understand or pre-translate a text with no stakes, and a professional or a sworn translator for anything official, legal or confidential. For internal documents with no legal value, a reviewed professional translation already offers a much better result than a simple copy-paste from an engine. See machine vs professional translation.

How to choose according to your document

The rule is simple: ask yourself about the intended use. An email you need to understand quickly? AI is enough. A birth certificate, a diploma, a judgment, a contract or any document intended for a Belgian or foreign authority? Then you need a sworn translation. If in doubt, ask the recipient about the required level before ordering.