As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the creation, production and distribution of cultural products while opening new opportunities for cultural heritage preservation and global outreach, experts say its full potential can only be realised with stronger legal frameworks, richer data resources and a highly skilled workforce.

AI is becoming a core technology across cultural industries, enabling businesses to optimise production, reduce costs, personalise user experiences, and develop higher-value-added cultural products. As Vietnam identifies cultural industries as a new driver of economic growth and national branding, AI is expected to play an increasingly important role in strengthening their competitiveness.

In the film industry, AI is mainly used to support production through image restoration, automatic subtitling, dubbing, audience analytics and content personalisation on distribution platforms. In music, it assists with composing melodies, arranging, audio processing, noise reduction and creating demo recordings.

The publishing sector employs AI for manuscript editing, translation, text summarisation and conversion of printed books into audiobooks, while journalism and media organisations use it to analyse data and accelerate information processing. AI is also enhancing audience experiences in the performing arts and showing strong potential in video game development.

Beyond these fields, AI is being applied in advertising, cultural tourism, handicraft production and product design, helping improve productivity, quality and competitiveness.

Despite these opportunities, experts warn that AI adoption also poses significant challenges.

Dr. Tran Kim Ba of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences said copyright is among the most pressing concerns as AI models are trained on vast datasets that include images, music, books and films, increasing the risk of copyright infringement and unauthorised use of creative works.

Another major obstacle is data availability. Much of Vietnam's cultural heritage and historical archives have yet to be digitised, limiting AI's ability to learn from and generate content that reflects the country's cultural identity.

A shortage of skilled professionals also remains a bottleneck. Cultural industries require a workforce with both artistic expertise and digital and AI capabilities, but such interdisciplinary professionals remain scarce. Meanwhile, high investment costs for data infrastructure and licensed software make AI adoption difficult for many small- and medium-sized enterprises and independent artists.

Experts say Vietnam can learn from countries that have successfully integrated AI into their cultural sectors. The Republic of Korea uses AI to analyse audience preferences, automate translation, support music and film production, and boost global promotion of Korean cultural content. China has focused on AI applications in filmmaking and video games while Singapore has developed digital museums and libraries, and Japan continues to advance AI in its animation industry.

Vietnam is seen as having strong potential in video games, music, film and animation based on folk culture, they added.

To maximise AI's benefits, specialists stress the need for coordinated policies covering regulation, technology and human resources development.

Hoang Van Tam, Founder and CEO of DigiTech Solutions, said AI should be used to process data, support research, suggest ideas and optimise workflows, while humans remain responsible for setting values, verifying content and making final decisions.

Experts also call for Vietnamese language, history, traditions and indigenous knowledge to be incorporated into AI training data to ensure AI-assisted content reflects the country's cultural identity. Cultural experts and creators should review AI-generated works to prevent inaccuracies, homogenisation and the erosion of national identity.

It is necessary to develop high-quality human resources while enhancing partnerships between arts and technology training institutions to build a both creative and tech-savvy workforce.

Ethical AI use is also essential, experts said, noting that without clear legal frameworks and ethical standards, AI could undermine creativity, cultural identity and the livelihoods of creative workers.

Dang Tran Cuong, Director of the Cinema Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, held that laws should protect intellectual property and also encourage innovation.

While AI can enhance creativity, it cannot replace the human emotions, lived experiences and cultural values that define artistic creation, Ba stressed, adding that the true value of any cultural product lies in the beauty distilled from the cultural identity and heritage of its community and nation./. VNA