Commenting that artificial intelligence is new to everyone, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung pointed out that cooperation is the best way to apply AI, develop and use virtual assistants.
Vietnam prioritizes cooperation in developing AI and virtual assistants
On November 19, Vietnam International Digital Week - VIDW 2024, with the theme "Virtual Assistant", officially opened in Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province.
The plenary session of Digital Week was attended by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung; Ms. Léocadie Ndacayisaba - Minister of Communications, Information Technology and Multimedia of the Republic of Burundi; Mr. Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu - Minister of Transport and Communications of Timor Leste.
Also attending were Deputy Secretary of Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee Dang Xuan Phuong; Vice Chairman of Hai Phong Provincial People's Committee Hoang Minh Cuong; Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Phan Tam; representatives of leaders of the Ministry of Information and Communications, Government agencies, international organizations, diplomatic missions, associations and enterprises.
Announcing the opening of VIDW 2024 and the first activity of the event series - the ministerial roundtable, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed: Vietnam will continue to prioritize promoting regional and international initiatives in the fields of digital technology and digital economy, in which priority will be given to cooperation programs on AI, development and use of virtual assistants.
“ The annual International Digital Week is a good opportunity for governments, international organizations, associations and global digital technology businesses to establish and expand digital partnerships, promoting cooperation for a sustainable digital world ,” Minister Nguyen Manh Hung emphasized.
Speaking at the 3rd Vietnam International Digital Week, Deputy Secretary of Quang Ninh Provincial Party Committee Dang Xuan Phuong said that this is an opportunity for Quang Ninh province to listen to the experiences and solutions of ministers, international organizations, and businesses on the future vision of digital technology, the role of virtual assistants in promoting economic growth and improving national governance capacity, towards the goal of sustainable development.
Emphasizing the importance of AI, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung also said: Virtual assistant can be an important application of AI, it can be a personal virtual assistant for each person, or a private assistant for each organization.
At the same time, it affirms that AI does not replace humans but plays a supporting role, giving more power to humans. Each individual and each organization must develop their own virtual assistant, from their own data and knowledge and serve their own purposes.
“ Virtual assistants help each of us do our work better, freeing us from uncreative tasks that take a lot of effort and time, so that people can focus on their best work, which is creativity ,” the head of the Vietnamese Ministry of Information and Communications analyzed.
Pointing out that AI is new to everyone, so cooperation is the best way to develop AI and virtual assistants, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung also shared with international delegates Vietnam's views and orientations in developing virtual assistants.
That is to separate the roles of technology companies and users in developing virtual assistants, in which technology companies provide the platform and AI tools to train virtual assistants, while users input their data and knowledge and train virtual assistants. Open source AI is a sustainable way of development, because open source creates trust, helping to promote global development.
Virtual assistants are being applied in the public sector by many countries.
Sharing the perspective of Boston Consulting Group - BCG, Mr. Arnaud Ginolin, CEO, said that BCG predicts the market size of AI applications in the public sector will reach 1.75 trillion USD by 2030.
The priority of many governments is to develop virtual assistants to support the provision of public services. However, virtual assistants also have many other applications such as supporting internal government operations, supporting policy making...
BCG representative said that to apply virtual assistants in the public sector, governments first need to define and build their own short, medium and long-term strategies. Countries need to indicate their goals and aspirations in developing virtual assistants.
Next, governments need to select appropriate 'usecases' for their country, deploy them starting small and scaling up when successful.
In fact, virtual assistants are helping the public sector in many countries operate more efficiently. In the United Arab Emirates, virtual assistants have been used to monitor Dubai's railways, helping to deal with train delays.
Electricity and water companies in Dubai also use virtual assistants to support customer care, specifically helping customers open accounts, pay electricity and water bills, and even support consumer analysis to guide people to spend effectively.
In Finland, virtual assistants play a role in supporting urban planning, ensuring compliance with legal regulations and gathering public opinions to build more suitable plans.
According to BCG CEO, the above examples show the great potential of applying virtual assistants in the public sector. “ To promote the application of virtual assistants, cooperation between the public and private sectors plays a very important role. However, virtual assistants cannot replace humans but only play the role of a tool to support accurate and effective decision making, ” Mr. Arnaud Ginolin shared.
Discussing how to address challenges to harness the potential of AI
Discussing at the ministerial roundtable discussion on virtual assistant applications, delegates reached a common understanding of the great potential of artificial intelligence in the 4.0 industrial revolution, along with the accompanying challenges such as data security and user privacy.
Léocadie Ndacayisaba, Minister of Communications, Information Technology and Multimedia of Burundi, hopes that international cooperation can help this African country in particular and other countries catch up with technological advances, improve the competitiveness of the economy and promote the innovation ecosystem. In this process, youth or young people play a great role, as they are a creative and enthusiastic force. In addition, the reality in Burundi shows that the lack of infrastructure, lack of financial resources and incomplete legal basis are obstacles to the digital transformation process.
Timor Leste has already integrated virtual assistants into some public services, said Miguel Marques Gonçalves Manetelu, Minister of Transport and Communications. However, to fully exploit the technology’s potential, challenges in infrastructure, human resources and other resources need to be addressed.
On that basis, Timor Leste has implemented a 10-year plan - "Digital Timor 2032", focusing on integrating IT into essential areas, including digital governance, education, healthcare, agriculture, etc. In 2025, it is expected that the country's submarine fiber optic cable project, when completed, will "unleash" the enormous power of technology, contributing to promoting socio-economic development.
Agreeing about the potential brought by AI and virtual assistant applications, Ms. Courtney Beale, representative of the US Embassy in Vietnam, emphasized the opportunity to promote interdisciplinary cooperation between the two countries.
“ The U.S. government is committed to continuing to facilitate partnerships between Vietnamese businesses and global stakeholders, allowing the exchange of expertise and resources to drive innovation. Virtual assistants have great potential to enhance public and private sector solutions. By working together, we can ensure these technologies are deployed in a comprehensive, ethical, and safe manner, ” said Courtney.
Regarding the challenges that come with applying AI and virtual assistant technology, the US is ready to support Vietnam in solving problems through capacity building initiatives, sharing practical applications, and building policies that balance innovation and protecting privacy and data security.
Also at the discussion, the representative of the United Nations (UN) in Vietnam, Ms. Pauline Tamesis, affirmed: “ The evolutionary history of virtual assistants, from simple chatbots to advanced AI-integrated systems, has shown how this technology trend is developing ”. Developing economies can make a “leap forward” with new technology and “provide services directly to people who need it most”.
The UN representative welcomed Vietnam's adoption of the AI Ethics Recommendation issued by UNESCO in 2021 and assessed: " Vietnam is in a favorable position to take advantage of the transformational potential of the digital economy thanks to its high and growing Internet penetration rate, large youth population, and booming digital economy ."
Meanwhile, Mr. San Lwin, Deputy Secretary General, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, said that the 4.0 technology revolution has a profound impact on all aspects of life, bringing both opportunities and challenges. The focus of this revolution is AI technology. ASEAN recognizes Vietnam's contribution, based on the applications that the Vietnamese Government has been applying in digital transformation to the common success of the bloc.
Organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in coordination with the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province from November 19 to 22, Vietnam International Digital Week - VIDW 2024 includes 12 official events and side events, attracting more than 600 delegates who are leaders of state management agencies from nearly 30 countries, representatives of international organizations and leading technology enterprises. Delegates attending VIDW 2024 will focus on discussing and sharing good practices, new approaches and initiatives to expand cooperation between countries, organizations and businesses on promoting AI development and virtual assistant deployment, with priority topics such as virtual assistant applications, artificial intelligence governance, Open RAN, legal framework for 5G, digital infrastructure development and digital human resources, etc. |
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/hop-tac-la-con-duong-tot-nhat-de-phat-trien-ung-dung-ai-tro-ly-ao-2343475.html
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