Five years ago, VinAI, a member of Vingroup, kicked off a tech revolution by launching AI Day, a pioneering initiative in the field. Since its debut, AI Day has emerged as a pivotal event for the local AI community, creating a vital link with international experts.
Today, it stands tall as Southeast Asia’s top annual AI event, spotlighting how AI can change lives and reshape the world by altering our perceptions of reality.
This year, AI Day makes a noteworthy return as a two-day event with the theme Empower AI: Reality Reimagined in Global City, Thu Duc, HCMC. Dr. Hung Bui, CEO of VinAI, said, “AI Day 2023 is the largest Artificial Intelligence event co-organized by VinAI in the past five years.”
A remarkable return
AI Day 2023, organized in partnership with the New Turing Institute and supported by JobHopin and NewNow, is endorsed by Vietnam's Ministry of Science & Technology and the National Innovation Center (NIC).
The event successfully attracted over 30 renowned experts in Artificial Intelligence, including the respected Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI. It featured 27 esteemed speakers — professors, doctors, and industry experts — who shared insightful talks, adding depth and value to the discussions.
AI Day 2023 goes beyond being just an event; it represents a nexus of technology and human capabilities. From groundbreaking technological advancements to thought-provoking discussions, AI Day 2023 offered a glimpse into the future, where AI stands as a driving force for positive change in our world.
Highlight of the event
This year's event took a deep dive into four key areas: The Future of Large Language Models (LLMs), The Unimaginable Impact of GenAI on Life, the Future with AI Reimagined - a Global View and Impact in Asia, and Economic and Business Development Opportunities with GenAI.
With a focus on LLMs and Generative AI (GenAI), the event explored the boundless potentials of these models, addressed related safety and ethical concerns they could raise, and showcased some of the applications leveraging LLMs and GenAI.
A GPT solution exclusively for the Vietnamese language
Since ChatGPT's introduction in Vietnam, it has sparked widespread interest. Despite some skeptics, everyone, from businesses to individuals, was thrilled with this innovative chatbot's ability to answer various queries. However, its usage revealed limitations in handling the Vietnamese language, such as unnatural responses and inappropriate word choices. This gap motivated VinAI to develop an AI solution that is attuned to Vietnamese users.
On the second day of AI Day 2023, CEO of VinAI - Hung Bui proudly unveiled PhoGPT, a 7.5 billion parameter Large Language Model (LLM) developed for the nuances of the Vietnamese language and culture. PhoGPT aligns with the emerging trend of open-source large language models, standing in contrast to the closed-source nature of ChatGPT (GPT-3.5-turbo).
Dr. Bui highlighted that PhoGPT, built on Vietnamese datasets, marks a leap toward Vietnam's autonomy in advanced technologies. He showcased PhoGPT's features, like poetry composition and Q&A. PhoGPT, he noted, is adaptable for various applications, including commercial ones, making it a key asset for Vietnam's AI development.
Moreover, Dr. Bui revealed that VinAI aims to enhance PhoGPT and extend its capabilities to other Southeast Asian languages, reflecting its commitment to regional language inclusivity.
Tap into the GenAI movement
Generative AI (GenAI) refers to deep-learning models that can generate high-quality text, images, and other content based on the data they were trained on.
The event unveiled the entrepreneurial opportunities of GenAI in Southeast Asia and Pacific Rim countries, provided experts' insights into the Proprietary Data in the Era of Generative AI, and addressed the ambition to achieve South East Asia Languages in One Network.
To illustrate how this technology is adopted in real life and offer a glimpse into some possibilities of GenAI's applications, the event welcomed on stage 3 Generative Vietnamese AI Startups: QuickQRart, Eklipse.gg, and Arcanic.ai to demonstrate their groundbreaking works. All showcased their unique blend of innovation, creativity, and technological prowess to the forefront of the AI landscape.
This demonstration also marked the grand finale of AI Day 2023, concluding the event on a high note.
Anticipating AI Day 2024
AI Day 2023 made a significant mark by drawing over 1400 participants, including students, corporations, entrepreneurs, educators, and experts. The event has gained significant attention, reflected in extensive media coverage across more than 300 reputable news outlets, social media channels, and domestic TV channels.
Tran Duy Dong, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, said, “I have full confidence that AI is an area where Vietnam has substantial potential for strong growth, and we can quickly keep pace with global innovations.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment is dedicated to continuously supporting and standing alongside the AI community, as well as the broader science and technology community, fostering a comprehensive and dynamic innovation ecosystem. This commitment aims to contribute significantly to the country’s overall development”.
This commitment from the government to the AI sector, along with the collective effort to explore new AI applications, lays the groundwork for significant advancements. These developments are expected to be highlighted at AI Day 2024.
AI Day is an annual AI event in Southeast Asia, initiated and co-organized by VinAI and endorsed by Vietnam's Ministry of Science & Technology and the National Innovation Center (NIC).
Organized in partnership with the New Turing Institute and supported by JobHopin and NewNow, AI Day 2023 was a two-day event held 5-6 December in The Global City.
The event has also garnered support from major sponsors and partners, namely Intel, AWS, Elsa Speak, Do Ventures, AMD, Lenovo, Trusting Social, Google, VinFuture Foundation, New World Saigon Hotel, NIC, Sovico Group, Vietjet Air, Vietsuccess, VietAI, and The Global City.