Sri Lankans Are Rapidly Moving From Google to AI 🇱🇰🤖

A new Sri Lankan study suggests AI is no longer just an occasional tool. It is becoming part of how people search for information every day.

⭕ In Sri Lanka, 81% of internet users surveyed now use AI as part of their information-search habits.

⭕ 26% of the 81% use AI instead of a search engine, while the rest, 55%, use AI and traditional search side by side.

⭕ The findings come from a survey conducted for Digital Outlook Sri Lanka 2026 by the Asia Pacific Institute of Digital Marketing (APIDM) together with the Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya. The survey covered 2,948 respondents across all nine provinces and all 25 districts.

⭕ The survey found ChatGPT Free to be the most popular AI tool, used by 47% of AI users surveyed, with Google Gemini Free second at 32%.

⭕ Education is still the biggest single reason for using AI, accounting for 31% of users, although everyday personal use is quickly catching up at 29%.

⭕ Sri Lanka, like the rest of the world, is entering a new information environment where AI and traditional search increasingly operate together. The bigger challenge now is whether AI literacy can grow as quickly as AI adoption itself.

#SriLanka #AI