Speaking about artificial intelligence (AI), Minister of Media & Communication Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized that AI must become the national intellectual infrastructure, a new driving force for Vietnam to make breakthroughs, improve competitiveness and move closer to the goal of becoming a developed country. The Minister affirmed that Vietnam will AIize, popularize AI to every citizen as quickly as possible and develop a humane, safe and autonomous AI ecosystem.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung

Vietnam issued its first AI Strategy in 2021. But AI is a fast-changing field. Later this year, we will have an updated AI Strategy and AI Law.This is not only a legal framework, but also a declaration of national vision, AI must become a national intellectual infrastructure, serving the people, developing sustainably and enhancing national competitiveness.

AI is an intellectual infrastructure. AI is not just an applied technology, it is becoming a kind of national infrastructure, like electricity, telecommunications or the Internet.Whoever masters AI will have a superior advantage in production, business, healthcare, education, national governance, and even national defense and security. Vietnam must have a Vietnamese AI intellectual infrastructure. Vietnam is rapidly building a national AI supercomputing center and open AI data.

We will AI like electrification, but we will AI faster, as fast as we can.Popularizing AI, popularizing AI education, is like the English learning movement before, like the literacy movement 80 years ago. Every Vietnamese person will have an AI assistant, the population will not increase but social intelligence will at least double. Previously, only ministers and above had assistants, costing thousands of dollars, but now, an ordinary person also has an assistant, costing only 10 dollars.

On open AI technology. Vietnam is committed to developing and mastering digital technology, including AI, based on open standards and open source code.It is not only a commitment but also our strategy: Open to develop and master technology, to Make in Vietnam, and also to contribute to humanity. Open to use other people’s knowledge and to create a higher level for others. Open is also the way to be safe.

About creating a domestic AI market for development. Without applications, there will be no market. Without a market, Vietnamese AI businesses will remain small.Therefore, promoting AI application in enterprises, state agencies and key areas is the fastest way to develop AI, to create Vietnamese AI enterprises. The government will spend more on AI, the Technology Innovation Fund of the Ministry of Science and Technology will spend at least 30-40% to support AI applications, issue vouchers for small and medium enterprises using Vietnamese AI. The domestic market is the cradle to create Vietnamese AI enterprises.

About AI transformation. We are not talking about AI application, we are talking about AI transformation.AI transformation is a process of comprehensively restructuring the operations of organizations, industries and countries based on artificial intelligence, aiming to create new capacities in management, production, innovation and sustainable development. Talking about AI transformation affirms that this is a strategic, national-scale process, similar to “industrialization” or “digital transformation”. Talking about AI transformation means taking transformation and changing the operating model as the focus.

About Vietnam’s opportunities. With a young, dynamic, tech-savvy population of 100 million, Vietnam has the conditions to be both a fast user and a creator of AI products for itself and the world.Vietnam is a developing country, the Party and the State are setting very high goals, many challenges and big problems appear, and this is an opportunity for AI.

The Prime Minister has issued a List of strategic technologies, in which AI is a key technology that we will prioritize resources for development.We can go faster thanks to: National AI computing infrastructure, data ecosystem, Make in Vietnam digital technology enterprises and a research force, startups, a young community that loves technology. AI startups will be an important driving force for AI development in Vietnam.

Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung presented the draft Law on Artificial Intelligence at the 10th Session of the 15th National Assembly.

AI also poses challenges and responsibilities. AI opens up huge opportunities, but also raises many questions about ethics, employment and social trust.Therefore, we must develop AI that is fast, safe, and humane. AI is for humans, not replacing humans, but serving humans. AI is a powerful tool, but humans are the decision-makers. Let AI support, not replace, human thinking, values, and responsibilities.

On policy and institutions. We will issue a national AI ethics code, in line with international standards, but tailored to Vietnamese realities., and build AI Law and AI strategy according to the following core viewpoints:

First, manage by risk level.

Second, transparency and accountability.

Third, put people at the center.

Fourth, encourage domestic AI development and AI autonomy.

Fifth, take AI as a driving force for rapid and sustainable growth.

Sixth, protecting digital sovereignty. Data, infrastructure, and AI technology are the three strategic pillars of digital sovereignty.

An important feature of the fourth industrial revolution is the balance between the power of the giants (big tech) that own core technology and the advantage of countries/enterprises that understand local context, language, culture and possess specialized data to make specialized applications.. In the digital transformation era, technology is global, but data is local. Important specialized applications must run on Vietnamese AI infrastructure. There is a global AI infrastructure, but there is also a national AI infrastructure. There are global platforms, but there are also national platforms. There are global applications (like ChatGPT) but there are also countless national applications.

Global and national cooperation will help make our world more sustainable. This will be an opportunity for developing countries like Vietnam.. The advantage of Vietnamese enterprises is Vietnamese data, Vietnamese problems, its advantage is open source AI, and its fundamental advantage is Vietnamese people, Vietnamese intelligence, and the flexibility and adaptability of Vietnamese culture – which is the most necessary and important thing in an era where technology is creating rapid and breakthrough changes.

We are also having to officially define the path of AI development in Vietnam. If we had to say one word about this path, it would probably be “and”.. Global and local. Collaboration and autonomy. Big Tech and Startup. Technology and application. Elite and mass. Use and mastery. Creation and control. Global infrastructure and national infrastructure. Open data and protected data. Platform AI, general-purpose and customized AI for each field. Big AI and small AI specialized for each task, each organization. Generative AI and analytical AI. Open technology and closed technology. Integration to learn, contribute and autonomy to protect national interests.

The rapid and sustainable development of AI must be based on the word “and”.Human history has used the word “or” mainly, and because of that, there have been many wars. Now, it is time for the word “and” to become the center. The level of human civilization corresponds to the level at which we know how to put the word “and” instead of the word “or”.

AI development will have to be based on four pillars., These are also very important “and” words.: AI institutions, AI infrastructure (computation, data, algorithms, models), AI human resources, and AI culture. Transparent AI institutions, modern AI infrastructure, high-quality AI human resources, and humane AI culture.

There is another “and”, and that is AI and the problem of AI.The power of AI may be greater than nuclear power, and therefore, the problems it creates may be greater than atomic bombs. But AI and its problems are twins, like yin and yang, like two sides of a coin, relying on each other to coexist and develop, and they transform each other. The problems of AI can be solved by AI itself, for example, training AI human resources with AI technology itself, detecting AI ethics violations with AI itself.

AI grows with the problems it creates.Without AI problems, there would be no AI maturity. AI and AI problems are a big “and”. AI and its problems will always exist, we cannot eliminate them, but must live with them and manage them wisely. And how we live with them is our choice.

AI is a great opportunity for Vietnam to rise up and become a developed country with high income, standing shoulder to shoulder with the world powers.. All the countries that have transformed into dragons and tigers are countries that have taken advantage of the opportunities of the new industrial revolutions. In the past, due to war, we missed those opportunities, but now, the country is at peace, Vietnam has escaped poverty and become an upper middle-income country, the 32nd largest economy in the world, we have enough conditions to seize this opportunity, focus all resources to AI Vietnam, to double Vietnam’s intelligence, increase labor productivity, double-digit economic growth, increase national competitiveness, improve national governance capacity and better protect Vietnam, make Vietnam stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s powers and contribute to humanity.

The Vietnam AI Declaration is:Humane – Open – Safe – Autonomous – Collaborative – Inclusive – Sustainable.

AI is a powerful tool, but humans are the ultimate decision makers. Let AI support, not replace, human thinking, values, and responsibilities.. AI is an assistant, a colleague, a capacity enhancement tool, but ultimately it still supports humans to make humans more human.

70,000 years ago, humans created language, a tool of thinking, and learned to live well with it, which has helped humans become much more human. We believe that humans will live well with AI and its problems. And in the future, humans will create many more things than AI, and we will live well with them, all just to make humans more human, closer to God. We are more human not only because we take advantage of the positive aspects of technology, but also because we face the negative aspects of technology. In fact, most of them are due to the negative aspects.

Nguyen Manh Hung – Minister of Science and Technolog