Widely used in practice

In late 2022, OpenAI Technology Company launched ChatGPT, a chatbot application that can answer user questions based on big data that can learn by itself.

With such useful features, the use of artificial intelligence is being applied by individuals and units for work. Mr. Le Cong Nang, CEO of Wondertour, said that the unit uses ChatGPT to create suitable marketing products according to personalized requirements. Many people have used ChatGPT to write poems, compose music, write letters, design and even fix errors in programming.

Talking about AI application via ChatGPT, Mr. Le Hong Quang, Permanent Deputy General Director of MISA said: "AI writes product introduction emails 36 times faster than before, from 180 minutes down to 5 minutes. AI also helps design fashion photo albums 24 times faster, from 8 hours down to 20 minutes. AI also supports programming website interfaces 10 times faster than humans."

In the enterprise sector, AI applications are also used in repetitive tasks. Mr. Le Hong Viet, General Director of FPT Smart Cloud said: "For technology units, AI is not new. FPT has officially invested in AI since 2013. In 2017, FPT AI product was launched. The unit determined to bring generative AI into all activities and products of the group. Building and applying AI according to a large language model is similar to Chat GPT but on a smaller scale, focusing on certain domains such as banking, finance, retail...".

“The unit uses AI as a virtual assistant to help answer customer questions with repetitive content, such as a customer service center with 20 million calls/month with a 98% success rate. Previously, the unit used up to 1,000 people but now only has 300 people,” Mr. Le Hong Viet shared.

In Vietnam, the application of GenAI technology has also been researched and applied by many enterprises to production activities. Notably, Viettel has invested in developing AI applications based on indigenous knowledge and narrow industry knowledge in Vietnam, serving corporate and government customers. In 2024, Viettel will continue to invest in high-performance computing infrastructure to develop AI applications to solve social problems.

For example, the Viettel AI Callbot Inbound system of Viettel Telecom Corporation (Viettel Telecom) handles about 33 million customer calls, saving 21 billion VND per year. Thanks to that, staff can focus on difficult business areas, and customers are served more promptly every time they call the switchboard. AI virtual assistants developed by Viettel Data and Artificial Intelligence Service Center (Viettel AI) based on specialized data of each organization have overcome the disadvantage of false information generated by AI chatbots, bringing high reliability and efficiency to corporate and government customers.

Another typical example of applying AI technology to production activities is Cricket One - the largest cricket protein producer in Southeast Asia with a farm in Binh Phuoc. This unit started looking for ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) since 2019 when it invested in a startup project to develop an AI platform for raising this insect. The platform was tested by the company since 2020 at its largest farm. Co-founder and Business Development Director Nguyen Hong Ngoc Bich (Bicky Nguyen) said that the platform is in the machine learning phase and provides warning recommendations with a high accuracy rate.

“MISA has also recently introduced virtual assistant MISA AVA into the platform system to help save 70% of time and minimize errors by automating processes; supporting analysis and forecasting, helping businesses make strategic decisions based on data,” said Mr. Le Hong Quang, Permanent Deputy General Director of MISA.

Globally, the unit that created the global AI craze also saw significant growth in users. According to data analytics company Similar Web, as of February 2024, OpenAI's ChatGPT product had attracted more than 180 million users. The emergence of ChatGPT not only surprised the global technology community, but it also created an AI technology race. Recently, Chinese technology company Baidu announced that its AI chatbot 'Ernie Bot' had attracted 200 million users after 8 months of launch. Accordingly, the company is striving to maintain its position as the most popular ChatGPT-like chatbot in China.

Not only creating a race between technology companies, the AI ​​boom is also attracting many investment capital flows as well as startups racing to keep up with this 'fertile' market. According to data research company PitchBook, in 2023, more than 29 billion USD was invested in 691 AI investment projects, an increase of 268.4% in value compared to the total value of 2022 (which was 7.9 billion USD).

GenAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence) is no exception as it is a step forward in technology that can simulate human intelligence, creating new content (typically text, images, music, videos) from the data it is trained on. GenAI completely changes the behavior and way people work, study, entertain, create art, and has a profound impact on all aspects of life.

Vietnam accelerates investment in AI

In the context of international development and integration, along with the strong development of the 4.0 industrial revolution, Vietnam has determined to focus on developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology - a spearhead, predicted to become a breakthrough technology industry in the future.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said: Vietnam is in the early stages of the artificial intelligence revolution. The AI ​​revolution requires us to strengthen cooperation to maximize advantages and minimize risks. The Ministry of Information and Communications has identified 2023 as the year of narrow-area AI applications. This is a specialized and focused AI application. In it, narrow-area AI systems are designed and trained for a specific task or a narrow group of tasks. They are highly effective within a pre-determined scope, and are ready for widespread application.

Currently, large corporations such as Viettel, FPT, Vingroup, CMC... focus on and invest in building AI centers, concentrating resources on development in this field. In the future, these centers will need a large number of quality resources. Accordingly, high-tech fields such as semiconductors, especially AI, also attract a lot of attention. Currently, a group of large universities in Vietnam have enough facilities and teaching staff for these fields such as: Hanoi University of Science and Technology, University of Technology, Hanoi National University, Phenikaa University...

Realizing that AI technology has developed rapidly, increasingly going into depth and expanding in many fields. Vietnam has also had policies and guidelines that have been quick and catching up with the trend. Mr. Tran Anh Tu, Deputy Director of the Department of High Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology (KH&CN) said: “Artificial intelligence AI in Vietnam is no longer a new issue. Party and State documents such as Resolution 50 of the Government or Resolution 52 of the Politburo on the industrial revolution, which emphasize the exploitation of artificial intelligence.

In the field of high technology, Decision No. 38/2020 of the Ministry of Science and Technology identified artificial intelligence technology as one of the technologies at the top of the list, emphasizing priority and development. The Ministry of Science and Technology also submitted to the Government Decision No. 2117/2020 on the list of technologies that need priority in the 4.0 industrial revolution.

The above policies and decisions have demonstrated the Party and State’s interest in the field of AI technology. In recent times, ministries and sectors have also participated in building a legal corridor to ensure and facilitate the development of AI.

According to scientists, advances in AI research have opened up prospects for socio-economic growth. Notably, companies and research organizations can leverage the power of AI to increase productivity and reduce research time. As a result, production costs are reduced, innovation is enhanced, and a competitive work environment is created.

The multinational computer technology corporation (IBM) believes that in Vietnam, the scale of the artificial intelligence market will reach 100.2 million USD in 2024. With the advantage of a country with a software export industry, Vietnam is facing a great opportunity to participate in the world's AI "pie".

Lesson 2: The challenges that come with it