Vietnam minister supports possible limits on AI use by younger students
The minister described restrictions as his personal view, while saying AI-generated content must be labelled under Vietnamese law.
Vietnam should consider limiting younger students’ access to artificial intelligence, science and technology minister Quan told a National Assembly question-and-answer session. He made clear that he was expressing a personal opinion rather than speaking in his ministerial capacity.
Quan was responding to Lao Cai deputy Si Thi Mai Anh, who questioned how students could be protected from dependence on generative AI. Despite education ministry guidance, she said, students could obtain homework answers and complete essays through AI outside school, potentially weakening their independent thinking, creativity and self-learning skills.
The minister said his ministry used three risk levels for AI — high, medium and low — alongside matching safety measures. He favoured encouraging exploration of AI among older students who had reached greater maturity, while urging caution over its use by younger children.
Dong Thap deputy Pham Van Hoa separately questioned safeguards against AI-assisted fraud, extortion and copyright infringement. He also highlighted its use for school assignments and examinations, saying independent checks on AI accuracy remained inadequate and Vietnam had not established dedicated national technical standards for high-risk systems.
In reply, Quan said legislation already addressed impersonation and similar abuses. Developers and providers, organisations deploying AI, and end users all had responsibilities, he said. He added that failing to identify AI-generated content with labels violated Vietnamese law.
Quan also urged parents to spend more time communicating with children, arguing that legal rules and technical protections were insufficient on their own.
Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung said Vietnam needed to balance AI’s potential benefits with sovereignty, security and public protection. He called for AI under a Vietnamese brand and the ability to control its development and use sufficiently to master the technology.
