The Paradox of Progress: Sri Lanka’s AI Revolution in Agriculture Needs Inclusion to Succeed

Sri Lanka is entering a new technological era, where artificial intelligence (AI) is starting to transform key sectors like agriculture. Yet, as promising as this revolution is, it carries with it the risk of deepening existing social and economic divides—unless we learn from history and prioritize inclusive development.

Digital infrastructure has expanded across the country, with e-government services and online platforms becoming widespread. However, rural and estate communities continue to struggle with poor internet access, limited affordability, and low digital literacy. If these gaps aren’t addressed, the benefits of AI will be distributed unevenly, reinforcing inequalities instead of resolving them.

AI-powered agricultural tools—like precision spraying systems, smartphone-based disease diagnostics, and real-time weather or soil analytics—can significantly boost productivity and climate resilience. These technologies have the potential to help farmers reduce input use, prevent crop losses, and make informed, data-driven decisions that were once available only to large-scale commercial farms.

But this promise comes with a warning.

Without deliberate efforts to make AI tools affordable and accessible, the technology could reinforce existing structural disadvantages. For example:

Farmers without land titles or credit histories may be sidelined by data-driven lending algorithms.

Households with poor connectivity may be excluded from digital marketplaces.

Gender and land ownership disparities may widen if better-connected, wealthier farmers dominate AI adoption.

Thus, Sri Lanka’s AI journey in agriculture must go beyond adopting tools—it must focus on building an inclusive ecosystem. That includes investments in rural infrastructure, reforms in education, public-private collaboration, and strong data governance policies that protect users while enabling innovation.

Global voices offer valuable insights into managing this paradox:

Joseph Stiglitz reminds us that innovation doesn’t automatically lead to equality—it requires supportive institutions and redistributive policies.

Niall Ferguson cautions that new technologies often reinforce existing hierarchies before creating balance.

Steve Jobs advocated for human-centered design, warning against allowing technology to dictate our values.

Elon Musk sees potential existential risks in unregulated AI.

Jensen Huang of NVIDIA sees hope in democratized access to hardware and open-source AI.

Together, these perspectives highlight one central truth: technology is only as transformative as the systems and values we build around it.

The real test of this so-called “second genesis” is not just in what we create, but in the choices we make about how we use it. Just as the Neolithic revolution brought both civilisation and inequality, the AI revolution can either empower or exploit—depending on how consciously we act.

To build a future where AI enhances human dignity, environmental sustainability, and equity—not just efficiency—we must choose to design our systems wisely.

After all, if the first revolution made us civilised, maybe this second one will help us become fully human.