As artificial intelligence (AI) technology emerges as a core driver of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, significantly impacting national socio-economic development, the Vietnamese government is constructing a systematic and comprehensive legal framework for AI development through the Draft Law on Digital Technology Industry. This initiative demonstrates the government’s strong commitment to establishing a foundation for sustainable AI industry development while striking a balance between promoting innovation and maintaining ethical standards.
Establishing Core Principles for AI Development Promotion
The Vietnamese government has positioned AI development and application as the top priority in its digital technology development strategy. The state particularly emphasizes building a responsible AI ecosystem that is human-centric and ensures reliability. To achieve this, enterprises, organizations, and individuals are encouraged to actively participate in the development, provision, and deployment of AI solutions.
As a concrete measure to foster innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises are supported to participate in experimental mechanisms for digital technology products and services. This constitutes a key component of Vietnam’s comprehensive AI industry development strategy, as outlined in Section 3, Chapter IV of the draft law.
To ensure systematic and sustainable AI development, the Ministry of Information and Communications is tasked with developing and submitting the “Program for Promoting AI Development and Application” for Prime Minister approval. This program is designed on a 5-year cycle, accompanied by annual implementation plans, to ensure continuity and effectiveness in achieving national AI development objectives.
Establishing Ethical Principles for AI Development, Deployment, and Application
The most noteworthy aspect of Vietnam’s AI legal framework is the establishment of ethical principles. The Ministry of Information and Communications leads the issuance of foundational ethical principles, providing guidelines for responsible AI technology development in Vietnam’s digital space.
To ensure practicality and alignment with sector-specific characteristics, specialized ministries are empowered to proactively develop and issue specific ethical guidelines. These guidelines will regulate the use of AI-enabled digital technology products within each ministry’s jurisdiction. Importantly, these guidelines must be developed based on the common ethical principles issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications while reflecting the specific characteristics and requirements of each sector.
Setting Clear Boundaries for Prohibited AI Activities
Vietnam’s AI legal framework explicitly prohibits certain activities to protect users’ rights and interests. These prohibitions serve as important safeguards to prevent AI technology misuse and minimize social harm.
First, the development and use of AI systems capable of sophisticated manipulation of user behavior through techniques that users cannot detect are prohibited. This targets systems that can cause substantial harm through methods of enticement or deception that impair individual decision-making capacity.
Second, the development and use of AI systems designed to exploit vulnerabilities of susceptible individuals, including the elderly, persons with disabilities, or those in challenging socio-economic circumstances, are prohibited. Such systems may cause severe adverse impacts on the behavior and lives of these vulnerable groups.
Third, the use of AI systems for evaluating or categorizing individuals based on social behavior, personal characteristics, or inferred personality traits is prohibited. Specifically prohibited is the use of such assessments to create unfair discrimination or cause disproportionate harm to individuals and groups.
Fourth, the use of AI to predict individual criminal propensity based on personality assessments and personal characteristics is prohibited. However, this prohibition does not extend to AI systems used in crime prevention activities as prescribed by current law, ensuring effective maintenance of security and order.
Fifth, regarding privacy protection, the draft law prohibits the development or use of AI systems for building and expanding facial recognition databases through unauthorized collection from the Internet or CCTV surveillance cameras.
Sixth, in workplace and educational environments, the use of AI for analyzing and inferring human emotions is prohibited, except in special cases related to medical and safety purposes.
Finally, the law imposes strict limitations on the use of biometric technology in AI. It prohibits the development and use of AI systems for classifying individuals based on biometric data to infer sensitive personal information. However, this prohibition does not apply to the labeling or filtering of legally collected biometric datasets.
Analysis and Outlook
Vietnam’s legal framework for AI development through the Draft Law on Digital Technology Industry is noteworthy in several aspects. First, the approach of seeking balance between innovation promotion and ethical constraints could serve as a best practice for healthy AI technology development. Second, explicit provisions for protecting vulnerable populations demonstrate the importance of inclusive AI development. Third, the systematic approach through inter-ministerial cooperation and role distribution is expected to enhance policy implementation efficiency.
However, several challenges remain for the successful implementation of this legal framework. Ensuring regulatory flexibility in response to rapid technological advancement, harmonization with international standards, and strengthening professional expertise among practitioners will be crucial challenges.
