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27 April 2026

Risks of AI translations for legal documents

With AI becoming more prominent in various industries and businesses, its use as a translation tool is growing as well. However, it is not wise to rely completely on AI. In our blog, we will take you through the risks involved with using AI.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Whilst AI can be a helpful tool, there are several risks of AI translations. For example, it is not always trustworthy and can make mistakes that are not always obvious.

As a Notary Public firm, we deal primarily with documents that are going to be used overseas, which means many documents may need to be translated into another language. Sometimes, we arrange for the translation of documents, whilst other times, clients bring documents that have already been translated.

In the following sections, we will take you through the risks of AI translations, the benefits of using a real translator, and what we as a notary can do for you.

The Risks of AI translations

AI translations can be cheaper and quicker than those made by an actual translator, which are some of the benefits of AI.

However, the following are some of the many risks of AI translations:

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Lack of understanding

Most AI translations will technically be accurate and understandable, but the AI will not always understand the nuances of a language or the context of certain words.

As a result, it can result in language choices that, whilst correct, feel unnatural to a native speaker, or even result in confusion due to words having more than one meaning.

Misunderstandings caused by the wrong word choice in your document’s translation could mean that the local authorities do not recognise it as legally valid.

Inaccurate information

In addition to providing the incorrect word for the context, AI can also just get information wrong. It is not providing a direct translation, it is picking what it thinks fits.

For more niche topics, it may not have enough information on the topic to provide an accurate translation, so it may provide an inaccurate translation not suitable for the topic. This is a particularly important issue for documents that are needed for use abroad for legal or business purposes.

The wrong information could result in your document not being accepted by the local authorities.

Privacy

Next for the risks of AI translations relates to privacy. A lot of legal documents include personal information that you would not want anyone to be able to learn, even information like your address and contact details.

AI generally stores user data and interactions to improve and tailor its responses to the specific person, so it may store any information you provide it with.

When using AI to translate your documents, it will store your personal data in its database. This could pose a security risk, as your personal information may not always be securely stored.

Poor knowledge of less common languages

There are many languages in the world, with many being more common than others, like English or Spanish. AIs are likely to have access to many databases of texts for common languages, but they will struggle with languages that are not as common in texts on the internet, which it is trained from.

Benefits of a real translator

There are several benefits to using a real translator over an AI translator, some of which can vary depending on your unique circumstances.

Knowledge of less common languages

Unlike AI, a real translator will have all of the knowledge required to understand a less common language, so your documents will be translated as accurately as possible.

Personal touch

A real translator can more easily answer specific questions and they are much more likely to know the answer to your question than AI, which has been known to provide unreliable or incorrect information, as it is programmed to always give an answer even if it does not know the correct one.

If your documents are of a particularly personal nature, then a real translator will offer empathy and care that AI cannot.

An understanding of context

People will understand cultural context, idioms and other aspects of a language, unlike AI translators.

This means that they can translate things that do not directly translate to another language, which would otherwise cause confusion. For example, idioms, metaphors and other turns of phrase, like ‘significant other’, will be understood by a real translator.

What we can do for you

As a Notary Public, we deal with many different types of documents for both private individuals and businesses. In many cases, people will need to take their important documents abroad; this is where we can assist.

Translations

First, as it relates to the topic of this blog, we will discuss translations. If your documents are to be used somewhere that does not use English, then we can arrange for the translation of your documents with expert professionals.

We understand the risk of AI translations, so only real people are involved in the translation process.

Notarisation

Whether you need to take business documents, a Power of Attorney, a deed poll, a will, or any other type of document abroad, we can help you with our notarisation and legalisation services.

For notarisation, you can book an appointment to meet one of our notaries, during which they will provide your document with their seal, stamp and signature to prove it is real.

We offer both in-office appointments, as well as mobile notary appointments.

Legalisation

After notarisation, your documents will need to be legalised so that your destination country accepts it as real.

There are different processes for this depending on where you want to go. Most countries accept apostilles, but some need the more complex embassy or consulate legalisation.

As we work closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, we can assist you with every step of legalising documents.

Drafting

Some documents, such as affidavits, will need to be drafted. You could do this yourself, but it is wiser to use the services of a legal professional such as ourselves, so that your document is drafted as accurately as possible and includes all of the necessary information.

Get in touch with us today

To use our services as well as those of real translators, you can contact us by phone, email, or through our website chatbox to discuss your needs with a member of our friendly team.

Our offices are conveniently located in the popular cities of London, Manchester and Sheffield, with all three having fantastic travel links.

However, if you are unable to travel, you can book an appointment to take place at a suitable location of your choosing through our mobile notary service.

Get in touch with us today for all of your notary needs.

Do you want to learn more about the notaries who will be assisting you? Then visit their profiles on our dedicated webpages:

Principal Notary Public of England and Wales, Nathan Woodcock
Notary Public of England and Wales, Papia Kabir

If you would like to see the ways in which we have assisted past clients, then visit our testimonials page to find out what they have said about our excellent services.

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If you have any questions about our notary, apostille or consular services,
contact Woodcock Notary Public today.

Call us on 0800 049 2471 (free to call) or email info@woodcocknotarypublic.com.

If you have any questions about our notary, apostille or consular services, contact Woodcock Notary Public today.