The game Armored Core: Formula Front for the PSP has a core mechanic that let’s players “program” their fighting robots in a destructured way. IIRC it’s about adding abilities and maneuvers that the AI can learn to use in combination while battling other AIs. It has a full campaign using this mechanic.

Battling Amiibos in the Super Smash Bros game for the Wii U could be compared to this in a way, too.