As published by Viet Nam News on 7 May, 2025.

UNDP’s 2025 Human Development Report (HDR) shines a spotlight on the new AI era. Launched on 6 May 2025, the HDR examines what the AI age could mean for human development. It argues that the impact of AI on people’s well-being and societal progress is far from inevitable, and that choices humans make today will shape the future – for better or worse. It demonstrates how choices that ensure AI deployment is ethical, inclusive, and sustainable can support countries to reap the full benefit of AI, and avoid a deepening of existing divides. 

In 2023, Viet Nam’s Human Development Index (HDI) score rose to 0.766, from 0.726 one year earlier. This improvement is to be recognized and celebrated. Yet, like many other countries, the HDI score conceals persistent inequalities. When adjusted for inequality, the HDI for Viet Nam drops to 0.641, representing a 16.3% loss due to disparities in health, education, and income dimensions. This loss is similar to the average inequality loss across East Asia and the Pacific. Understanding the drivers of these inequalities and taking them into consideration will be key to ensuring that the deployment of AI considers the differentiated needs of all.

AI and Inequality

Globally, there is an “AI equity gap” that threatens to increase existing inequalities and undermine the ability of low- and middle-income countries to harness AI for public goods (e.g. improving health care, climate adaptation, or digital governance). This goes well beyond access to the internet. While one in every 3 people worldwide don’t have internet access, only 2% of the world's data centres are in Africa, meeting the computing power needs of only 5% of AI innovators. 

New GenAI technology, like ChatGPT, are seeing growth and adoption at rates unlike anything else we’ve seen before, reaching 100 Million users in only two months. Compare that with fixed phone lines, which took 75 years to achieve the same[1]. Digital technology and AI have the potential to contribute US$15.7 trillion to the global economy by 2030, but only 10 percent of this will be in the Global South[2].  

Making AI work for human development

We need to design our policy choices with a conscious goal to leverage ‘AI’s potential to enhance human capabilities and quality of life. 

AI can be deployed in sectors where positive spillovers can be leveraged, augmenting rather than replacing jobs, increasing productivity, and developing strategies to maximise impact, while mitigating potential adverse effects. 

AI has also enabled innovations in assistive and accessible technologies that can expand choices and opportunities for people with disabilities, technologies such as live captioning, and translation of sign language into voice or text. Beyond individual stories, AI holds immense potential for reshaping public services, healthcare systems, agricultural productivity, and disaster preparedness, underscoring its critical role in inclusive socio-economic development. If human development elements are central in the design stage, the deployment of AI can increase human agency and quality of life. 

As Viet Nam scales up its AI ambitions, it must do so with a critical eye on environmental sustainability. AI systems, particularly large language models and data-intensive applications, consume vast amounts of energy—raising concerns about carbon emissions and environmental impact. Policy efforts must integrate environmental assessments into digital infrastructure planning, promote renewable energy adoption in AI deployments, and incentivize green innovation. AI should not just be smart—it must be sustainable. 

Investing in capabilities 

Education systems must equip learners with future-relevant skills to thrive in an AI-driven world.  Preparing the future workforce for AI demands holistic, adaptive education systems. Education will need to move beyond increasing years of schooling, to focus on quality of education and skill enhancements. AI’s flexibility and adaptability could be used to tailor learning in different contexts to achieve suitable learning outcomes.

AI governance

Researchers reveal that while AI holds undeniable promise for sustainable development, there is an imbalance in representation in global AI governance discourse that often reflect Global North concerns (e.g., algorithmic bias, privacy) while neglecting systemic disparities between countries [3]. A study analyzing prominent global AI ethics documents found that the majority comes from Global North, with 40% originated from just 2 countries: the U.S. and the U.K, with very limited contributions from the Global South. Moreover, answers generated by AI are largely blind to the perspectives of people in the Global South.

This dominance may lead to a distortion in AI Policy development and the design of ethics frameworks. 

Harnessing AI in Viet Nam

Viet Nam’s national AI vision, articulated in Decision No. 127/QD-TTg and supported by Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) development, prioritizes significant investment in STI. 

At the 2025 AI Semiconductor Conference (AISC) Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for “a comprehensive, global, and inclusive approach in AI development that emphasizes international solidarity and cooperation to collectively build a better world”. He announced plans for training 100,000 engineers in semiconductor and AI technology, and pledged to protect people's safety, security, and mitigate potential technological risks.

In UNDP’s recent Viet Nam AI Landscape assessment (AILA), we shared how this vision is being translated through action, including through local AI Champions who used AI to improve delivery of public services. 

Yet, institutional frameworks continue to be both a bottleneck and a potential breakthrough area for Vietnam's AI and semiconductor ambitions. As articulated by Prime Minister Chinh, Viet Nam needs to streamline governance, significantly reduce administrative procedures by at least 30%, and decentralize authority and resources effectively to foster innovation at all levels. 

There is a window of opportunity to proactively foster ethical and responsible AI deployment, transforming current constraints into creative opportunities. Today, we have a choice, to ensure that AI becomes a force for equity, sustainability, and human progress in Viet Nam’s transformation journey. 

To download the 2025 UNDP HDR, visit: https://hdr.undp.org./.