AI is increasingly becoming a vital force in advancing digital economic development in Vietnam. In recent years, AI has had a crucial role across various key sectors. 

In the public sector, since 2022, legal virtual assistant software has been deployed at the Supreme People's Court to ease the workload of judges. By June 2024, the system had integrated 173,206 legal documents, 27,610 legal FAQs (frequently asked questions), and 1.4 million judgments with virtual assistants.

After a period of application, the virtual assistant and judges had 10,000-15,000 interactions per day. It is expected that by the end of 2025, virtual assistants will be publicized, allowing people to access and use as a legal aid, thus helping disseminate legal knowledge and reduce costs.

In agriculture, AI has been applied by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to develop climate-resilient rice varieties, and help Vietnamese farmers better cope with climate change.

These examples illustrate just a small fraction of AI's potential. A report commissioned by Google estimates that the businesses of six Southeast Asian economies (including Vietnam) could gain economic benefits up to $835 billion by 2030 if they apply products and solutions powered by AI.

While these are just forecasts, AI can bring a bright future for Vietnam and its regional neighbors.

Vietnam’s great potential 

Explaining AI's importance at FPT TechDay 2024, Le Hong Viet, CEO of FPT Smart Cloud, an arm of FPT Group, noted that businesses mostly competed with each other in human resources quality in the past. In the new era, people are not standing alone, but have to work with ‘digital colleagues’. That is why AI will become extremely important.

Do Tien Thinh, Deputy Director of the National Innovation Center (NIC), belonging to MPI (Ministry of Planning and Investment), said that Vietnam has many natural advantages to become a bright spot in the AI race.

Vietnam has a young population and is now in the ‘golden population’ period, with 75 percent of total population aged under 35. With 80 percent of population using the Internet, Vietnam’s internet-based economy has been growing rapidly, according to MIC’s (Ministry of Information and Communications) estimates. These are advantageous conditions for Vietnamese to easily access new technologies.

Vietnam ranks second among Southeast Asian countries in AI startups and ecosystems in a recent survey.

Thinh cited the survey on the potential for startups in AI as reporting that 44 percent of AI startups in the region are located in Singapore, and 27 percent in Vietnam. 

NIC believes that Vietnam has greater advantages than other countries in using AI and digital technologies in the fields of agriculture, food, education and training, and consumer goods.

With natural advantages, AI can help improve Vietnamese enterprises' capability and competitiveness, as well as productivity in the public sector.

However, in order to turn the potential into reality, Vietnam needs a comprehensive and long-term AI development strategy.

Strategy for leading in AI

To develop an AI ecosystem, Vietnam has to use AI in the public sector, according to NIC.

However, there is a gap in AI application between the public and private sectors. Many taxation, customs, environment, and planning systems in Vietnam have yet to embrace AI. Vietnam needs to accelerate AI adoption in the public sector.

Additionally, attention must be given to data sharing between the public and private sectors.

“Vietnam is lacking a national steering committee in AI. It is time to have a specialized unit to direct AI application nationwide. In addition, there should be a policy recommended for AI development in Vietnam,” Thinh said.

Arnaud Ginolin, Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group, predicts that the AI application market in the public sector may reach $1.75 trillion by 2030. 

Besides improving public services, virtual assistants also have other applications such as supporting government operations and policy planning.

The consulting firm suggests that to implement virtual assistants in the public sector, governments need to identify and build strategies for short-, medium- and long-term development.

Nations need to articulate their goals and aspirations concerning virtual assistant development and choose suitable use cases. It would be better to start on a small scale and expand after achieving success.

Trong Dat