AI - The Intelligent Infrastructure of the New Era: Unlimited Power and Unpredictable Challenges

AI is the intellectual infrastructure of the new era, opening up unprecedented development opportunities while posing challenges to global security, ethics and governance. Vietnam needs to develop AI quickly, safely and humanely, based on four pillars: transparent institutions, modern infrastructure, high-quality human resources and AI culture for people.

This information was given at the scientific workshop "Unlimited power and unpredictable challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) - Impact and policy response" organized by the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security , the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Science and Technology (KH&CN) on September 15, 2025, at the Vietnam Exhibition Fair Center (VEC).

The important forum aims to identify opportunities and challenges of AI, thereby proposing policy orientations, development strategies and effective responses, contributing to ensuring security, safety and sustainable development of the country in the era of artificial intelligence.

Overview of the Workshop.

AI development must balance speed and control, integration and autonomy

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, General Luong Tam Quang, Politburo member and Minister of Public Security, emphasized that AI is no longer a technology of the future, but is already deeply present in reality, reshaping the economic and social structure and even the global security order. He emphasized that Resolutions 31 and 57 of the Politburo identify science and technology, innovation and digital transformation as the "golden key" for the country to overcome the middle-income trap and rise to the group of developed countries in the mid-21st century.

In particular, AI is considered a decisive breakthrough technology, capable of restructuring the national governance method, promoting modern production forces, and building a knowledge-based economy . According to international assessments and domestic resources, Vietnam's AI development potential is huge. If exploited effectively, AI can contribute about 79.3 billion USD - equivalent to 12% of Vietnam's GDP by 2030. Vietnam has now formed an initial ecosystem of hundreds of AI enterprises, ranking second in Southeast Asia in the number of startups in this field. At the same time, the rate of enterprises applying AI in sales activities reaches 75% - a figure showing the strong transformation of the private economic sector.

However, the Minister of Public Security noted that the results achieved are just the beginning. The current challenge is not only to develop rapidly, but also to develop safely, in a controlled and humane manner. AI cannot be just a market technology, but must be a component of a national strategy for sustainable development and comprehensive security. He emphasized: "AI development requires a delicate balance between innovation and discipline, speed and control, integration and autonomy, ensuring technological sovereignty, data security and national interests."

General Luong Tam Quang, Politburo member and Minister of Public Security, delivered the opening speech at the Workshop.

Positioning Vietnam in the global AI ecosystem

In his opening speech at the workshop, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, said that the power of AI is clearly demonstrated in its ability to be applied in many fields and AI is directly responsible for many production activities. In many fields such as production, finance, healthcare, education or media, AI has replaced or supplemented human intellectual labor, becoming a factor promoting innovation, technical improvement, process optimization, productivity improvement and creating increasingly sustainable added value.

According to the Government AI Readiness Index report published by Oxford Insights, Vietnam's ranking has improved significantly in recent years. In 2024, Vietnam ranked 51st out of 188 countries and territories; in East Asia, Vietnam ranked 9th and 5th out of 10 ASEAN countries. AI is becoming an indispensable part in the process of establishing a new growth model and the operation, governance and management of the country's socio-economy, bringing a "golden opportunity" for Vietnam to make a breakthrough in development.

However, he also frankly pointed out the bottlenecks: Lack of high-quality human resources, limited technical infrastructure, fragmented R&D investment, fragmented AI ecosystem, and especially Vietnam has no specialized laws on AI. This makes risk management, data protection and privacy still inadequate. He asked experts, scientists and management agencies at the Workshop not only to analyze the opportunities that AI brings, but also to "offer specific, synchronous and practical solutions to position Vietnam in the global AI ecosystem, develop AI responsibly, humanely, and with people at the center".

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Politburo member, Director of Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics,

Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council spoke at the Workshop.

Popularizing AI according to the "AI popular education" model

Speaking at the workshop, Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Manh Hung said that although the national AI strategy was first issued in 2021, given the rapid development of technology, Vietnam will comprehensively update the national AI strategy issued in 2021, and at the same time develop the first AI Law, expected to be announced this year. This is both a legal framework and a vision statement, affirming that AI is a national intellectual infrastructure - similar to electricity or telecommunications.

According to the Minister, Vietnam will focus on three major orientations: Developing infrastructure with a National AI Supercomputing Center and a shared open data system; Universalizing AI to the entire population according to the "AI popular education" model like the previous English learning movement, so that each person has a personal digital assistant, helping to double social intelligence without increasing the population; Building a national AI Code of Ethics, in harmony with international standards but suitable for Vietnamese practice. The AI ​​Law will be designed on core principles: Risk-based management, transparency - accountability, prioritizing domestic AI development and protecting digital sovereignty.

Regarding technology strategy, Vietnam is committed to developing AI based on open standards and open source code, aiming to both master the technology and contribute to the international community. The Minister affirmed that this is not only a commitment but also a strategic direction to create a "Make in Vietnam" platform, promoting innovation and sustainable development.

Regarding the development of the domestic AI market, the Minister pointed out that without AI applications, there is no market, and without a market, Vietnamese AI enterprises will find it difficult to develop. The Government will prioritize spending on AI, in which the National Technology Innovation Fund will allocate at least 40% of the budget to support AI applications, and at the same time issue vouchers to small and medium-sized enterprises using Vietnamese AI solutions.

According to the Minister, Vietnam has a great advantage from a young, dynamic, tech-savvy population of 100 million; from a vibrant startup ecosystem to national priorities for AI. He affirmed: "Vietnam can be both a fast user and a creator of AI products for itself and for the world."

Comrade Nguyen Manh Hung, member of the Party Central Committee, Minister of Science and Technology spoke at the Workshop.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung also emphasized the balance between global "big tech" and the advantages of businesses and organizations that understand local context, language, culture, and specialized data to develop specialized AI applications in the country. "Vietnam's path to AI development is the word 'and': global and local, cooperation and autonomy, big tech and startups, open technology and control, open data and protected data, platform AI and specialized customized AI. This is the key to fast, sustainable, and humane AI development," the Minister shared.

The Minister affirmed that AI is a powerful tool that helps free up human labor for higher-value creative work, but humans are still the final decision makers. AI is an assistant, not a replacement for human thinking, values ​​and responsibilities.

Delegates attending the workshop took a souvenir photo.

At the conference, two panel discussions on AI took place with many profound and enthusiastic opinions from experts, managers and businesses. The first session with the theme "AI: Power, risks and control" focused on analyzing the positive and negative aspects of AI, emphasizing that exploiting the power of this technology must go hand in hand with solutions to control risks in ethics, safety, security and social impact.

The second session, themed "National AI Development Strategy: From Vision to Action", discussed the roadmap for implementing strategies and policies to make AI a pillar in Vietnam's socio-economic development.

Opinions at the workshop pointed out the multi-dimensional impacts of AI, from the risk of inequality, data leakage, privacy violations to challenges to national security when the law has not kept up with technology. On that basis, many orientations were proposed to develop AI in the direction of autonomy, innovation, building a humane, safe and humane ecosystem. These recommendations will be an important basis for continuing to perfect documents submitted to the 14th National Party Congress.

Session One: AI: Power, Risk, and Control.

Session 2: National AI Development Strategy: From Vision to Action.

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/ai-ha-tang-tri-tue-cua-ky-nguyen-moi-suc-manh-khong-gioi-han-va-thach-thuc-kho-du-bao-197250915155804305.htm