Launching an in-depth book on modern AI in Vietnamese

At the launching ceremony on the morning of June 25, two authors Prof. Dr. Thai Tra My, and Associate Professor. Dr. Nguyen Phi Le shares his thoughts on the impact of AI on society as well as his journey to compile an introductory document for Vietnamese readers. The book is also one of the first in-depth textbooks on modern AI, compiled in Vietnamese.

Professor. Dr. Thai Tra My is the only female professor of Vietnamese origin to receive the IEEE Fellow title. She is currently a Professor at the School of Computer Science, Information Science and Engineering, and also holds the position of deputy director of the Nelms Institute, University of Florida, USA. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Phi Le is currently the Director of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence Research and Application (AI4Life), Hanoi University of Science and Technology.

Modern AI: From classical principles to foundational models includes 656 pages, 18 chapters, divided into 5 parts with three main contents. In the first part, the author focuses on building the mathematical foundation and core concepts, helping readers have a basis to approach the field of artificial intelligence. Next, most of the space is devoted to technical issues and machine learning, providing knowledge and skills to solve AI problems, and explaining the strong development of AI applications in recent times.

Speaking at the event, Professor Thai Tra My said that AI not only changes the way people learn, work and create, but also forces each person to reconsider their own core values. According to her, as AI takes on more and more intellectual work, the important thing is not to worry about being replaced, but to understand what technology can do, where its limits are, and how humans adapt.

“If we look back at history, technology has never confronted humans. They have always been a tool to help us overcome our own limitations,” she said.

Sharing about the compilation process, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Phi Le said that the book idea came from the growing needs of students, parents, employees and people outside the industry who want to learn about AI but do not know where to start.

The authors hope to build an accessible, systematic and up-to-date document, not only for students of AI or computer science but for anyone interested in this field. According to the two authors, in the context of AI’s increasing presence in all aspects of life, the dissemination of basic knowledge will help the community better prepare for future changes.

In the book, the highlight is in the last chapter, when the author shifts the focus from technical to AI ethics. Through this chapter, the two authors emphasize that no matter how quickly technology develops, building and deploying AI still needs to be done carefully, ensuring ethical principles and aiming for practical values ​​for people and society.

Experts rate it highly Modern AI: From classical principles to foundational models. According to Associate Professor. Dr. Huynh Quyet Thang, Deputy Director of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, what is impressive is not only the scale of the book, but also the way the content is built, as the 18 chapters go from mathematical foundations, skills, machine learning, deep learning to platform models and AI applications “like the process of a person growing up, having to have the foundation and skills before entering life”.

“The best thing is that chapter 18 talks about ethics instead of technology. After all the technological knowledge, in the end it still has to be ethics,” Mr. Thang added.

With more than 40 years of teaching experience and also the first reader to access the book, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Thuy, Chairman of the Council of Professors of Information Technology, expressed his impression with the amount of knowledge and information introduced. He believes that this will be a useful “handbook” document for students and those researching in this field. More importantly, the book is a testament to gathering and attracting Vietnamese talents from all over the world to contribute to the country’s development when Professor My is known as the leading expert on AI in the US.

Associate Professor. Dr. Bui Duc Hung, Director and Editor-in-Chief of Bach Khoa Hanoi Publishing House, said the unit received information about the project in April, less than three months before the launch date. Even though the time was very tight, the publisher still decided to accept the offer immediately because they realized that this was a meaningful work for the AI ​​research and training community.

The representative of Hanoi Polytechnic Publishing House expressed the expectation that the book will become an important reference for AI training, research and application activities in Vietnam, and affirmed that the unit will continue to pursue the role of “knowledge bridge” between the scientific and practical world.