Abstract

This study analyzes how algorithmic governance transforms the legal system in Vietnam through its National Program for Digital Transformation (PTDN), thus filling the lacuna in legal semiotics concerning changes from human-centered signification to algorithmic signification. Using a qualitative-interpretive approach, semiotic analysis is applied to urban case studies, weaving the data from e-contracts, AI-constructed administrative decisions, and legal practices (March 2024–February 2025). Findings reveal that algorithms make legal texts computational signifiers, thereby improving efficiency but obscuring intent; favor data over narrative coherence; and supplant human discretion with algorithmic authority, which is very much a factor of Vietnam’s collectivist legal culture. These transformations threaten the substance of justice, and in that regard, transparent algorithmic governance is a must. The placement of the computational interpretant in theoretical development connects semiotic theory with a non-Western perspective on AI law. It thereby equips policymakers to devise accountable regulations, judges to employ a semiotic toolkit for overseeing AI-imposed rulings, and legal practitioners to assist in disbursing efficiency and oversight. This state-led form of digitalization makes clear Vietnam’s somewhat distinct position in world AI governance, therefore opening pathways for longitudinal- and rural-focused studies on AI’s societal implications.