Is AI considered a subject in legal relations in Vietnam?

Along with the strong development of science and technology, AI – artificial intelligence is increasingly perfected and there are even many opinions that AI can replace humans in many fields. In terms of legislation, there have been many opinions wondering whether AI is considered a subject in legal relations in Vietnam. Through the following article, Viet An Law would like to share its views on this issue.

How is AI understood?

In the current era of strong information technology development, “AI” or artificial intelligence is becoming a familiar concept to everyone. AI is simply understood as the ability of computers or machines to perform work that previously only humans could do.

AI is widely used in many fields such as weather forecasting, financial consulting, manufacturing automation and translation. The flexibility and 24/7 operation of AI has helped increase work efficiency and reduce time for simple tasks, while also opening up many new opportunities for social and economic development.

What is legal relations?

Legal relations a social relations established, existing, developing, and ending under legal regulations. For example:

• Marital relationship is the relationship between husband and wife regulated by the provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family.
• Sales relationship is the relationship between buyer and seller regulated by the Civil Code or the Commercial Law.

Is AI considered a subject in legal relations in Vietnam?

The subject in legal relations is understood as an individual or organization with legal capacity and legal act capacity, participating in legal relations, and having certain legal rights and obligations.

Article 1 of the Civil Code 2015 provides as follows:

“The Civil Code provides the legal status, legal standards for the conduct of natural and juridical persons; the rights and obligations of the natural and juridical person (hereinafter referred to as persons) regarding personal and property rights and obligations in relations established based on equality, freedom of will, independence of property and self-responsibility (hereinafter referred to as civil relations).”

From the above provisions, it can be seen that current law, specifically the Civil Code 2015, only regulates relations between individuals and legal entities. Meanwhile, as mentioned above, only social relations regulated by legal provisions are considered legal relations.

Therefore, it can be seen that currently, only individuals and legal entities are considered subjects in legal relations in Vietnam. AI is currently not considered a subject in legal relations in our country.

Legal consequences when AI is not recognized as a subject in legal relations

Currently, when artificial intelligence (AI) is not recognized as a legal subject, the legal consequences can be determined as follows:

AI has no personal or legal status

• AI cannot have independent rights and obligations, such as entering into contracts, owning property, or incurring civil or criminal liability. All actions involving AI will be the responsibility of the individual or organization that owns, operates, or uses it.
• AI cannot be named in legal transactions such as civil transactions, commercial transactions, etc. Therefore, all transactions involving AI must be performed by humans or representative organizations.

AI is not responsible for compensating for damages

• In cases where AI causes damage, the individual or organization that owns or operates the AI ​​will be responsible pursuant to current legal regulations, such as liability for compensation for non-contractual damages.
• Complex situations can arise when AI acts unexpectedly or beyond human control. This can make it difficult to pinpoint exactly who is responsible.
• These issues highlight the need to develop specific legal frameworks to regulate future AI activities.

Restrictions in labor relations

AI cannot be considered an “employee” or “employer” under the provisions of the Labor Code. Therefore, AI cannot participate in labor relations or exercise related rights and obligations prescribed by labor laws.

How to identify the author of an AI-generated work?

Determining the authorship of an AI-generated work currently depends on current legal regulations and general legal principles. Under relevant regulations, especially in the Law on Intellectual Property, the author is usually determined to be a human being, specifically the person who directly created the work. Therefore, AI is not recognized as an “author” under current law.

When AI is involved in creating a work, the problem of determining authorship can be handled as follows:

AI programmer or operator

The AI ​​programmer may be considered an author if the AI ​​work is a direct result of the programmer’s original creativity in designing the algorithm or implementing the AI ​​system. The AI ​​operator may be considered an author if they play a decisive role in using the AI ​​to create the work, including providing ideas, adjusting inputs, or selecting outcomes.

AI owner

In some cases, if it is not possible to determine who is the primary creator, the AI ​​owner may be considered the party with ownership rights to the AI-generated work. However, this is usually based on contracts or specific legal provisions regarding intellectual property ownership.

Copyright is not recognized

Some international legal systems do not recognize copyright in works created by AI. Instead, the work may be considered public domain or belong to the operator or organization using the AI, depending on the applicable law.

According to the Agreement

In practice, parties can sign a contract that defines intellectual property rights for AI-generated works, avoiding disputes over rights.

How do we determine the legal liability of AI-generated behavior?

Currently, Vietnamese law does not have specific provisions for determining legal responsibility for AI-generated behavior. This is a new and complex issue in the current legal context. This involves questions of civil liability, criminal liability, and other legal obligations.

As mentioned above, AI is not recognized as a subject in legal relations in Vietnam, therefore, AI will not be legally responsible for the actions created by AI. Pursuant to the general principles of Vietnamese law, the determination of legal responsibility will be based on the “fault” factor of the individual and the law in the AI ​​performing the actions.

The issues that need to be addressed in determining the legal liability of AI-generated behavior today are:

• Does the AI ​​function as designed? If the AI ​​does not function as originally designed, the manufacturer or programmer may be held liable.
• Was there a human element involved? If the misconduct is the result of a user providing incorrect or improper data, can the user be held responsible?

Therefore, the responsibility often falls on stakeholders such as:

• AI programmer or developer: If the error arises from design or programming.
• AI owners or operators: If they misuse AI or do not provide proper supervision.
• AI users: If the violation arises due to user direction or improper use.

For example, if an AI causes an accident, liability could fall on the manufacturer or the user, depending on the cause of the accident.

Should AI be recognized as a subject in legal relations?

Currently, the recognition of AI as a subject in legal relations is still controversial. According to Viet An Law’s point of view, the recognition of AI as a subject in legal relations is not appropriate in the current context for the following reasons.

First, AI is a product of human intelligence

The expression of social relations is that subjects perform actions towards each other. Although AI can perform interactive behaviors with humans. However, this behavior does not come from the “consciousness” of AI but is based on pre-programming from humans. In other words, the behavior that AI performs is due to human influence, is a product created by humans.

Second, AI is incapable of taking responsibility for its actions

As analyzed above, AI is a product of human intelligence. Therefore, AI has absolutely no capacity to take responsibility for its actions. For example, if AI commits an act that violates the law, how should it be handled? This handling must ensure deterrence and education (one of the important meanings when setting out sanctions).

Or, suppose we set out to prosecute AI for its violations, will it ensure the principle of “right person – right crime” when the actions that AI performs come from human “control”?

Thus, it can be seen that the recognition of AI as a subject in legal relations in general and legal relations in Vietnam in particular still has many shortcomings and legal barriers.

Through the above article, Viet An Law has provided legal information on question that: “Is AI considered a subject in legal relations in Vietnam?”. If you have any questions or need support on other legal issues, please contact Viet An Law for timely support.