Vietnam's foreign-language students say AI won't replace their jobs anytime soon

At Hanoi University's Nov. 12 job fair, which drew more than 70 employers in tourism, technology, English teaching and banking, thousands of juniors and seniors explored hiring needs and tested out recruitment activities.

Ngoc and Trang, both final-year French majors, were drawn to booths from travel firms as they looked into tour-operations jobs and guiding work. Trang said she has heard plenty of warnings from experts claiming language-related careers are at risk, but she is not convinced.

Some destinations have started using tech-based audio guides, she noted, yet most tourists still prefer human interaction. Ngoc added that visitors often ask spontaneous questions about culture and daily life, the kind of unscripted exchanges AI still struggles to handle.

Minh, a third-year Italian major, echoed that view after trying several AI tools himself. They are useful, he said, but not nearly flexible enough to deal with real conversational nuance.

Huy, a third-year Spanish student, sees the biggest AI disruption happening in translation rather than interpretation. Straightforward translation may shrink, he said, but complex work requiring human judgment, such as editing drafts to ensure correct context and accurate intent, still demands skilled people.

Interpreting, especially in settings involving emotion or interpersonal communication like classrooms or tour groups, is also safe for at least the next five years, in his view.

Several companies agreed the demand for foreign-language talent remains high. New Wing Interconnect Technology said it uses AI only for template-based documents, not for meeting interpretation, where clients use slang, local dialects and culturally specific references that AI tools cannot reliably process.

Camera manufacturer Sunny Opotech Vietnam, which supplies brands like Samsung and Oppo, said AI translation has fallen short on documents heavy with technical terms, especially when sensitive information is not part of any model’s training data.

Nguyen Tien Dung, Vice Rector of Hanoi University, acknowledged that AI has changed hiring patterns, with many foreign visitors now relying on apps instead of human interpreters. Even so, he said translators and interpreters still hold advantages in fields requiring deep expertise such as medicine, law and engineering. He encouraged students to build additional skills, strengthen domain knowledge and learn to use AI creatively as a tool rather than a crutch, a way to broaden their careers instead of limiting them.