In the context of Vietnam's ongoing development of an AI law, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung shared his views on the importance and how Vietnam is developing AI to serve humanity.

Vietnam issued its first AI Strategy in 2021. However, AI is a rapidly changing field. By the end of this year, we will have an updated AI Strategy and AI Law. This is not just a legal framework, but also a declaration of the national vision: AI must become the national intelligent infrastructure, serving the people, promoting sustainable development, and enhancing national competitiveness.

AI is an intelligent infrastructure. AI is not just an applied technology; it's becoming a national infrastructure, like electricity, telecommunications, or the internet. Those who master AI will have a significant advantage in manufacturing, business, healthcare, education, national governance, and even defense and security. Vietnam must have its own AI intelligent infrastructure. Vietnam is rapidly building a national AI supercomputing center and open AI data.

We will implement AI like electrification, but we will do it faster, as fast as possible. We will popularize AI, make AI education accessible to everyone, similar to the English learning movement before, similar to the literacy campaign 80 years ago. Every Vietnamese person will have an AI assistant; the population won't increase, but social intelligence will at least double. Previously, only ministers and above had assistants, costing thousands of dollars, but now, an ordinary citizen can have an assistant for only $10.

Regarding open AI technology: Vietnam is committed to developing and mastering digital technologies, including AI, based on open standards and open source. This is not just a commitment, but also our strategy: Openness to develop and master technology, to "Make in Vietnam," and to contribute to humanity. Openness to utilize the knowledge of others and to create a higher level playing field for others. And openness is also a way to ensure security.

Regarding 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 applications in businesses, government agencies, and key sectors is the fastest way to develop AI and create Vietnamese AI businesses. The government will spend more on AI, and the Ministry of Science and Technology's Technology Innovation Fund will allocate at least 30-40% to support AI applications and provide vouchers to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) using Vietnamese AI. The domestic market is the cradle for creating Vietnamese AI businesses.

Regarding AI transformation: We're not talking about AI applications, but about AI transformation. AI transformation is a comprehensive restructuring of the operations of organizations, industries, and nations based on artificial intelligence, aiming to create new capabilities in management, production, innovation, and sustainable development. Calling it AI transformation emphasizes that this is a strategic, national-scale process, similar to "industrialization" or "digital transformation." In essence, AI transformation focuses on changing and transforming operating models.

Regarding Vietnam's opportunities: With a young, dynamic, and tech-savvy population of 100 million, Vietnam has the potential to be both a quick user and a creator of AI products for itself and the world. As a developing country, Vietnam is setting very high goals, facing numerous challenges and major problems, and this presents a significant opportunity for AI.

The Prime Minister has issued a list of strategic technologies, in which AI is a key technology that we will prioritize for resource allocation. We can move faster thanks to: a national AI computing infrastructure, a data ecosystem, Make in Vietnam digital technology businesses, and a research force, startups, and a young, tech-savvy community. AI startups will be a crucial driving force for the development of AI in Vietnam.

AI also presents challenges and responsibilities. While AI opens up great opportunities, it also raises many ethical issues, concerns about employment, and social trust. Therefore, we must develop AI that is both rapid, safe, and humane. AI should be for humanity, not replace humans, but serve humanity. AI is a powerful tool, but humans are the decision-makers; let AI support, not replace, human thinking, values, and responsibilities.

Regarding policies and institutions: We will issue a national AI code of ethics, harmonized with international standards but designed to suit Vietnamese practices, and develop an AI law and AI strategy based on the following core principles:

First , manage based on risk level.

Secondly , transparency and accountability.

Third, put people at the center.

Fourth, encourage the development of domestic AI and achieve self-reliance in AI.

Fifth, leverage AI as a driver for rapid and sustainable growth.

Sixth, protecting digital sovereignty. In this context, data, infrastructure, and AI technology are the three strategic pillars of digital sovereignty.

A key characteristic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is the balance between the power of big tech companies possessing core technologies and the advantages of countries/businesses that understand the local context, language, and culture, and possess specialized data for developing specialized applications. In the era of digital transformation, technology is global, but data is local. Important specialized applications must run on Vietnam's AI infrastructure. There is global AI infrastructure, but also national AI infrastructure. There are global platforms, but also national platforms. There are global applications (like ChatGPT), but also countless national applications.

Global and national collaboration will help our world develop more sustainably. And this will be an opportunity for developing countries like Vietnam. The advantage of Vietnamese businesses lies in Vietnamese data, Vietnamese problems, open-source AI, and fundamentally in the Vietnamese people, Vietnamese intelligence, and the flexibility and adaptability of Vietnamese culture – which are the most needed and important elements in an era where technology is creating rapid and disruptive changes.

We are also in the process of officially defining the path for AI development in Vietnam. If we had to describe this path in one word, it would probably be "and." Global and local. Collaboration and autonomy. Big Tech and Startups. Technology and applications. Excellence and mass appeal. Utilization and mastery. Innovation and control. Global infrastructure and national infrastructure. Open data and protected data. Platform-based AI, versatile AI, and customized AI for each sector. Large-scale AI and small-scale AI specialized for each task and organization. Generating AI and analytical AI. Open and closed technologies. 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 primarily used the word "or," and consequently, has led to many wars. Now, it's time for "and" to become central. The level of human civilization corresponds to the extent to which we know how to use "and" instead of "or."

The development of AI must be based on four pillars, which are also very important "and"s: AI institutions, AI infrastructure (computing, data, algorithms, models), AI human resources, and AI culture. Transparent AI institutions, modern AI infrastructure, high-quality AI human resources, and a humane AI culture.

There's another "and," and that's AI and the problems of AI. The power of AI may be even greater than nuclear energy, and therefore, the problems it creates may be even 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 personnel using AI technology, detecting AI ethical violations also using AI.

AI grows alongside the very problems it creates. Without AI's problems, there would be no AI's growth. AI and its problems are a great "and." AI and its issues will always exist; we cannot eliminate them, but must coexist and manage them wisely. And how we coexist is a matter of our choice.

AI presents a tremendous opportunity for Vietnam to rise up and become a high-income developed country, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the world's leading nations. All countries that have achieved economic and technological success have successfully capitalized on the opportunities presented by the new industrial revolutions. Previously, due to war, we missed these opportunities, but now that the country is at peace, Vietnam has escaped poverty and become a high-middle-income country, the 32nd largest economy in the world. We are well-positioned to seize this opportunity, focusing all resources on AI-driven Vietnam, doubling Vietnam's intelligence, increasing labor productivity, achieving double-digit economic growth, enhancing national competitiveness, improving national governance, and better protecting Vietnam, enabling it to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world's leading nations and contribute to humanity.

The manifesto on AI in Vietnam is: Humane - Open - Safe - Autonomous - Collaborative - Inclusive - Sustainable.

And finally, I would like to reiterate a point I made earlier. That is, 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 tool to enhance capabilities, but ultimately it is still about supporting humans so that they can become more "human."

Seventy thousand years ago, humans created language, a tool of thought, and learned to live comfortably with it, which made us much more "human." We believe that humans will live comfortably with AI and its challenges. And in the future, humans will create even more than AI, and we will live comfortably with them, all so that humans can become more human, closer to God. We become more human not only because we utilize the positive aspects of technology, but also because we confront its negative aspects. In fact, the negative aspects are the main reason.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung