Le runs AI4LIFE Research and Application Institute and lectures at the School of Information and Communication Technology under the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST).

Le said building a workforce proficient in AI knowledge is essential before engaging in AI-related work. “This is one of the most important issues; without it, we can accomplish nothing,” she said.

At HUST, the training focuses on three main tracks: imparting AI knowledge, conducting in-depth AI research, and transferring research achievements to real-world applications.

“The university aims to prepare AI-related human resources at various levels. Not all graduates will become deep experts in AI, but they will be able to work with different AI usage levels,” she explained.

The lowest level is using AI proficiently in their work. At second level, AI engineers can create products using AI. Meanwhile, the highest level is in-depth research on AI," Le said.

She believes that in order to create human resources at many different levels, it would be better to follow the pyramid-shaped training program.

At the basic level, instead of just providing students with general knowledge related to AI, schools should provide fundamental knowledge in mathematics and IT.

“AI changes daily and rapidly. In order to adapt to the changes, there is no other choice than having a solid foundation, especially in math and IT (algorithms, databases, programming languages). This is the knowledge that is indispensable for anyone who wants to use AI."

The knowledge in mathematics (including calculus, statistics and linear algebra) is provided to all HUST students, not just IT majoring students.

“For IT students, we provide fundamental AI knowledge, including data management, processing and visualization, as well as basic knowledge about machine learning and deep learning. The university also offers specialized AI training programs,” she said. “Data Science and AI majors are provided with advanced knowledge in AI, such as natural language processing and generative AI”.

HUST educational council has approved the updating of the training curriculum, deciding that knowledge about machine learning and simple deep-learning models will be provided to students as basic knowledge.

In addition to the training program for bachelor’s degree, the university offers a master's program in data science and AI.

Le stressed that the bad news in Vietnam is the low proportion of postgraduates compared with the rest of the world.

“Large research universities worldwide like the University of Tokyo (Japan) have postgraduate student ratios nearly equal to their undergraduates. Still, in Vietnam, this ratio is extremely low,” she explained, adding that this is a challenge for education in Vietnam.

Thanh Hung