Playful design for AI Literacy: Creating inclusive learning and assessment opportunities

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping human interactions with technology and society at large, yet public awareness of its prevalence remains limited, fostering misconceptions and raising concerns about its potential to perpetuate societal inequities. In this paper, we argue that AI literacy is a foundational skill akin to reading and numeracy, and advocate for its broad integration into educational curricula beyond traditional STEM domains. Despite various initiatives promoting AI literacy in K-12 education, existing efforts predominantly focus on computational skills, excluding many underrepresented students. The paper proposes inclusive learning opportunities that decouple AI literacy from computational thinking by centering on playful activities. By investigating the implementation of a playful AI curriculum, we provide qualitative evidence that demonstrates how playful design features can offer authentic and engaging learning opportunities, even for students who might face barriers.