Learning Needs Play

I was initially intimidated to learn AI tools. I anticipated formal education where I'd have to pay serious attention.

Then a colleague put together a learning session on how to get started. Good tutorial. Clear steps. But here's what I didn't expect: we watched it together as a group, even though we're remote.

The example was simple and playful: "Here's a picture of me today. Here's what I looked like in the 1980s."

I happened to have a visa photo on hand—not a great picture, but it was there. And in front of all my colleagues, I thought, "Alright, let me try this."

Here's the thing: I was with a group of colleagues I've formed friendships with. I felt safe to play.

I plugged it in. Hit the button. And we all watched as the AI transformed my visa photo into what I supposedly looked like in the 80s.

Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. It made me look old and gave me a mega perm.

Everyone was laughing. Someone else tried theirs and looked like they were in a boy band. We were just playing with it, experimenting, seeing what would happen.

And somewhere in that play and laughter, I realized: I'm not scared of this anymore.

I even asked ChatGPT afterward what I looked like in 1995, and it was almost spot-on—even picked out a shirt similar to what I actually wear now.

Here's what I learned about learning:

The tutorial was good. The instruction was clear. But what gave me confidence wasn't the quality of the content—it was the environment.

I learned to use AI tools because:

• I was with colleagues I trust, not alone at my desk
• We'd built friendships—I felt safe to look silly
• The stakes were low and the mood was playful
• We were experimenting together in real-time
• The joy and laughter built confidence

This challenges how we typically think about learning design.

We obsess over content quality. Clear objectives. Good examples. Logical progression. All important.

But we don't think enough about the conditions for learning:

• Are people learning alone or together?
• Have they built trust with each other?
• Is there room for play and mistakes?
• Do they feel safe to look silly?
• Can they experiment with low stakes?

I wouldn't have learned AI tools from a perfect tutorial watched alone. The anxiety would have stopped me. But learning it with friends, through play? That worked.

So what does this mean for how we design learning experiences?

Maybe we need to think less about perfecting content and more about creating the conditions where people feel safe to try, fail, laugh, and try again.

Not every learning moment can be a group play session. But when we're introducing something new—especially something that might feel intimidating—the environment might matter more than the instruction.

And maybe that means we should be investing more in helping people build connections with their colleagues. Because learning happens more easily when you trust the people you're learning with.

I'm curious: When have you learned something because the environment felt safe and playful rather than because the instruction was perfect?

What helps people move from "I'm scared to try this" to "Okay, I'll give it a shot"?