Hai Phong City is embracing artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance public service efficiency and reduce administrative burdens. Civil servants across various departments are leveraging AI tools to streamline tasks, cut costs, and improve citizen engagement, with some reporting work processing speeds three times faster than before.

An Phong ward faced a significant increase in workload after adopting a two-tier local government model. Civil servants often dealt with repetitive inquiries, while citizens, especially the elderly, struggled with multiple platforms to access public services.

To address these challenges, on 23/2, the An Phong Ward People's Committee launched the "An Phong So" model, integrated into a Zalo Mini App. This application functions as a miniature service center, offering 12 digital utilities for daily life. A key feature is the AI chatbot, which acts as a virtual assistant, automatically answering questions about administrative procedures, documents, and processes 24/7. The ward also integrated a "Pho Cap So" (Digital Universalization) page to guide citizens on basic technology skills directly within the Zalo platform.

Tran Van Hai, Vice Chairman of the An Phong Ward People's Committee, noted that the model provides citizens with constant support, saving time and costs, while reducing the workload for the administration.

An Phong ward residents connect with authorities via an AI-integrated app. Photo: Le Tan

The Hai Phong Department of Home Affairs implemented AI using a multi-layered model. Input data, such as documents and reports, is read, summarized, and parsed for tasks by AI. Civil servants then review, cross-reference legal aspects, and refine the output to produce the final product.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Duong, a civil servant at the Department of Home Affairs, observed that AI significantly shortens the time required for administrative tasks. Researching a 10 to 20-page administrative plan, which previously took about 60-90 minutes, now takes only 15-25 minutes. Extracting tasks from official dispatches has decreased from 45-60 minutes to 10-20 minutes.

Writing news articles for the electronic information portal now takes 10-15 minutes, down from 60-90 minutes. The time to prepare training presentations has also decreased from about 180 minutes to about 60 minutes. "AI does not replace expertise; it supports accelerated initial processing, creating a foundation for civil servants to review and finalize products more easily," Duong stated.

Beyond a single tool, An Lao commune implemented a process combining multiple AI platforms to optimize communication and traffic management. Civil servants there use NotebookLM for summarizing meeting documents, Perplexity for verifying legal regulations, Gemini or ChatGPT for planning, and Canva and Flow for designing images and producing videos.

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, an official at the An Lao Commune Public Service Center, compared past costs: a propaganda video previously cost about 500,000 VND, and a poster 100,000 VND, requiring external contractors. With AI, these costs are nearly zero, as tasks are performed internally. In one year, the commune used AI to produce over 1,500 news articles, 210 infographics, and 103 videos.

To promote AI adoption, on 28/5, the Hai Phong Department of Science and Technology launched the "AI Application in Task Execution" competition. This initiative attracted nearly 68,000 civil servants from 128 units, leading to the creation of solutions such as: virtual assistants for procedural resolution, data analysis, and legal document lookup.

The organizers awarded the first prize to the Department of Home Affairs team, second prize to the An Lao Commune People's Committee and An Phong Ward People's Committee, and third prize to teams from Hoa Binh ward, Viet Khe commune, and Tan Minh commune.

Serving as a judge for the competition, Associate Professor Dr. David Tran (University of Massachusetts, US) was impressed by the deep AI application capabilities of Hai Phong's civil service system. However, he cautioned that agencies must pay special attention to data security, given their current reliance on general foreign AI applications.

Vu Dai Thang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology, affirmed that exemplary solutions will be refined and scaled across the entire city.

"AI does not replace civil servants, but those who know how to apply AI will work faster and more accurately. Every civil servant needs to become a 'digital civil servant,' capable of leveraging data and mastering technology," Thang emphasized.

Le Tan