Programming is emerging as a foundational skill for the twenty-first century, closely linked to AI literacy and educational innovation. Framed through Johan Huizinga’s concept of Homo Ludens, programming becomes an engaging, exploratory process, fostering creativity, exploration, and learning. Unlike its traditional treatment as a technical discipline, this approach emphasizes voluntary engagement, immersion in tasks, and the interplay between rules and autonomy. By embracing challenges, finding joy in the process, and understanding programming as a means of creating possibilities, learners develop technical skills and a profound connection to AI-driven technologies.

This perspective became particularly evident during my postdoctoral research, when I faced challenges acquiring a prebuilt robot. Guided by one of my mentors, who introduced me to technological resources, I designed a virtual assistant using ChatGPT. Rather than feeling constrained by existing systems, this process allowed me to shape the assistant’s characteristics through programming, transforming the task into a playful, exploratory activity. Engaging with code fostered creativity and a sense of control. I discovered how programming could resemble play, defined by enjoyment, innovation, and freedom to experiment.

Building on this idea, we systematically examined the broader implications of programming as play. Using collaborative autoethnography, we integrated personal narratives, reflective dialogue, and iterative analysis of processes and artifacts. This included analyzing interviews, journal entries, discussions, and multiple versions of the assistant’s code. Through this approach, we uncovered patterns of learning and creativity that emerge when programming is seen as play, aligning with game-based learning and playful coding initiatives that enrich learners’ experiences.

The value of ethnographic methodologies is evident in AI research, particularly in capturing lived experiences during the transitional phase of AI integration into daily life. Stephen King and Judhi Prasetyo’s 2023 study, published in Frontiers in Education, highlights the role of collaborative autoethnography in documenting challenges and breakthroughs when adopting generative AI tools like ChatGPT. Similarly, Faith Jeremiah’s 2024 research, featured in the European Research Studies Journal, explores how prolonged engagement with ChatGPT4 evolved into a "Thinking Space," revealing cognitive and emotional patterns. These studies underscore how ethnographic approaches provide critical insights into human-AI dynamics, emphasizing the value of personal narratives in understanding the broader implications of AI in everyday contexts.

Our findings align with these broader efforts, emphasizing programming as a playful, exploratory endeavor that enhances student engagement, ethical awareness, autonomy, and creativity. Presenting programming as an immersive, meaning-making process enables educators to strengthen learners’ technical skills and prepare them for AI-driven futures. Aligned with Huizinga’s principles of play, this reconceptualization of programming education offers a compelling pathway to fostering AI literacy and equipping learners for dynamic, advanced landscapes. These insights underscore the importance of ethnographic methods in understanding the cognitive, emotional, and social dimensions of human-AI interaction.

Keywords: Programming, AI literacy, play, collaborative autoethnography, creativity, education.