Artificial Intelligence
SLAIO
Sri Lanka Artificial Intelligence Olympiad
The national AI competition for Sri Lankan high-school students, and the selection for the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence.
- Selects for
- IOAI & APOAI
- Rounds
- Three
- Born after
- 1 Jul 2007
- Entry fee
- Free
The olympiad
SLAIO is the national olympiad in artificial intelligence. It picks and trains the Sri Lankan team for the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence, the newest of the international science olympiads and the first to put machine learning in front of school students.
There are three rounds. The Open Round is a 90-minute multiple-choice paper you can sit at home at any point before it closes, and it needs no programming and no AI knowledge at all. A free online training programme in programming and AI then runs before the proctored Qualifier Round, and the Final is sat in person in Colombo. The four highest-ranked finalists represent Sri Lanka at both the IOAI and the Asia-Pacific Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence.
SLAIO 2027 is the second edition, and registration is open until 30 November 2026. At IOAI 2026 in Astana, Dilina Weragama won a bronze medal and Chanitha Denagama earned an honourable mention. Entry is free.
Who can enter
- Sri Lankan citizens
- Born after 1 July 2007
- Have not registered for or taken any coursework at a university
What it covers
- Algorithms & problem solving
- Machine learning foundations
- Neural networks
- Natural language processing
- Computer vision
- Model training & evaluation
The path
How SLAIO runs
3 competition rounds, each one cutting the field down further.
- 01Until 30 Nov 2026
Open Round
OnlineA 90-minute multiple-choice paper that can be sat at any time before the deadline. No programming and no AI knowledge are needed, so this round is open to anyone who registers.
- 025 Dec 2026
Qualifier Round
OnlineA proctored online round of programming and AI tasks, for those who clear the Open Round. The free training programme runs beforehand, so sitting the Open Round early buys more preparation time.
- 0323 Jan 2027
Final Round
OnsiteSat in person in Colombo, using AI tasks in the style of the IOAI. The four highest-ranked students here become the Sri Lankan team, and top performers receive certificates and medals.
After the competition rounds
What happens after the final round, on the way to the IOAI.
Team Sri Lanka at the IOAI
Four students sit the scientific and practical rounds of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence, held in Singapore from 4 to 10 July 2027.
The Asia-Pacific olympiad
The same four also represent Sri Lanka at the Asia-Pacific Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (APOAI), whose dates are yet to be announced.
Questions
SLAIO, answered
The things students and teachers ask us most often.
- Who can enter SLAIO?
- Sri Lankan citizens born after 1 July 2007 who have not registered for or taken any coursework at a university.
- Do I need to know artificial intelligence to enter SLAIO?
- No. The Open Round is a 90-minute multiple-choice paper that requires no programming and no AI knowledge. A free online training programme in programming and AI runs before the Qualifier Round, so the AI and coding tasks only appear once you have been taught the material.
- How many rounds does SLAIO have?
- Three competition rounds. The online Open Round is open until 30 November 2026, the proctored online Qualifier Round is on 5 December 2026, and the Final Round is sat in person in Colombo on 23 January 2027.
- Is SLAIO free to enter?
- Yes. Registration for SLAIO is free, and so is the training programme. Later international activity can still carry costs such as travel, passports, visas, insurance and accommodation.
- Where does the Sri Lankan team compete after SLAIO?
- The four highest-ranked students in the Final Round represent Sri Lanka at the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence, held in Singapore from 4 to 10 July 2027, and at the Asia-Pacific Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (APOAI).
- How did Sri Lanka do at the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence?
- At IOAI 2026 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Dilina Weragama won a bronze medal and Chanitha Denagama earned an honourable mention. Both are students at Sivali Central College, and the team was led by Shenal Kotuwewatta.
- What does SLAIO cover?
- Algorithms and problem solving, machine learning foundations, neural networks, natural language processing, computer vision, and model training and evaluation.
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