Technology must serve human dignity
As AI becomes an essential part of life, the key question is: whom should AI serve, for what purpose, and within what limits? How can AI be used more effectively for people, more safely for society, and ultimately help each nation become more self-reliant?
According to Dr. Ho Duc Thang, a full-time National Assembly deputy of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Society, it took the world 75 years to reach 100 million fixed-line telephone users and seven years to reach 100 million internet users. By contrast, ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just two years. Statistics show that by the end of 2024, AI-generated content had surpassed human-written content across the global internet. This is not merely a data point but a warning. In the future, if AI is trained primarily on data generated by AI itself, it could lead to data degradation, causing AI responses to become increasingly limited, biased, and disconnected from reality.
This risk highlights the urgent need to guide and regulate AI development so that it genuinely serves humanity while respecting human values. In this context, AI ethics governance can be seen as the "braking system" that enables technological progress to move forward safely and in the right direction.
Viet Nam is considered one of the countries with a relatively fast pace of AI adoption in Southeast Asia. Recognising this trend early, the government has issued important foundational regulations on AI governance. The Politburo’s Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation, and national digital transformation identifies AI as a strategic technology and calls for completing the institution and improving data infrastructure to ensure that AI develops in a safe and responsible manner. The 2018 Cybersecurity Law and the 2024 Data Law also provide a legal foundation for data governance, privacy protection, and greater accountability in the development and deployment of AI.
The AI Law 2025, which officially came into force on March 1, 2026, established a comprehensive legal framework for the development, deployment, and governance of AI in Viet Nam. The law is based on a human-centred approach and a risk-based management model. Nevertheless, some experts believe that AI is developing much faster than the country's institution improvement and state management capacity.
Dr Pham Thi Xuan Nga from the Viet Nam Academy of Social Sciences stated that one of the most fundamental elements for AI development is training data. At present, digital data remain scattered across ministries, sectors, and localities. Data-sharing standards are not been unified, and open data remains limited. This affects both the quality of AI models and the ability to manage ethical risks. Another challenge is the shortage of interdisciplinary human resources. Effective AI ethics governance requires experts with knowledge spanning computer science, law, ethics, public administration, and cybersecurity. Furthermore, awareness of businesses and society remains limited. Many businesses continue to focus primarily on AI's economic benefits without establishing ethical risk assessment procedures, monitoring mechanisms, or responsible AI usage rules.
Open, flexible, and responsible AI governance
Achieving effective AI ethics governance requires the continuous improvement of the legal framework.
Institutions and policies must keep pace with the rapid development of AI and be built upon risk assessments, clearly defining the responsibilities of AI developers, suppliers, and deployment entities. Ethical impact assessments for high-risk AI systems should also be updated regularly, alongside the development of national standards on algorithmic transparency, explainability, and AI auditing.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has issued the National AI Ethics Framework under Circular No. 05/2026/TT-BKHCN, dated March 10, 2026. Compliance with the framework is mandatory for state management agencies, organisations, and individuals acting as AI developers, providers, or deployers, as well as users of AI systems supporting public administration or public services.
According to Dr Pham Thi Xuan Nga, the National AI Ethics Framework is an important milestone in building a safe, trustworthy, and human-centred AI ecosystem. However, turning these principles into practical procedures for organisations, businesses, and research projects remains a major challenge that requires close cooperation among managers, scientists, and leading experts. To achieve this, Viet Nam should prioritise the development of a highly skilled workforce through interdisciplinary education that combines AI, data science, technology law, digital ethics, and public administration.
She also emphasised the need to strengthen business responsibility in AI development. Each business should establish its own internal ethical principles, create technology ethics council, publicly disclose its data usage policies, assess the social impact of AI products, and ensure that humans retain oversight of important decisions.
Most recently, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung signed Decision No. 33/2026/QD-TTg, issuing a list of high-risk AI systems in sectors including education, ethnic and religious affairs, healthcare, banking, judicial proceedings, and transport. Under the regulations, AI systems classified as high risk must comply with the fundamental operational principles set out in the AI legislation. The use of AI must not alter, transfer, or remove the authority and responsibilities of competent agencies, organisations, or individuals. At the same time, human oversight, control, and the ability to intervene throughout AI operations must always be ensured, while all prohibited activities under the law must be strictly avoided.
Applying management measures that are proportionate to AI's level of risk — neither restricting innovation nor allowing inadequate oversight — is an approach already adopted by many developed countries. According to Dr Ho Duc Thang, Viet Nam is following the classic principles of management science by establishing a clear chain of responsibilities in the use of AI. AI ethics is not a personal reminder, but a systemic responsibility. Good AI ethics management lays the foundation for developing a Vietnamese-style AI, contributing to the country's rapid and sustainable development in the new era.
