The latest installment of the Colombo AI Meetup discussed the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in linguistics and modern retail. Held recently at the VirtusaPolaris auditorium in Orion City in conjunction with the Sri Lanka Association for Artificial Intelligence (SLAAI), the event brought to the forefront real world applications for the revolutionary technology that was, until fairly recently, only within the realm of science fiction. The lively panel discussion that followed saw these themes explored further with the audience enthusiastically questioning the speakers on the technological implications and social ramifications of AI.

The keynote speakers for the night were Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe, Dean of the Informatics Institute of Technology and former Director of the University of Colombo School of Computing, and Rashan Anushka Peiris, Software Architect at Zone24x7. Janaka Pitadeniya, associate director at VirtusaPolaris, joined both speakers for a panel discussion following the presentations. The event was moderated by Dr. Ajith Madurapperuma, Member of the Board of Directors at ICTA, Head of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Open University of Sri Lanka, and former Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Moratuwa.

Caption: (Left to Right): Dr. Ajith Madurapperuma, Head of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the Open University of Sri Lanka; Rashan Anushka Peiris, Software Architect at Zone24x7; Janaka Pitadeniya, associate director at VirtusaPolaris; and Dr. Ruvan Weerasinghe, Dean of the Informatics Institute of Technology and former Director of the University of Colombo School of Computing