Trapped-ion systems enable programmable spin–boson interactions with precise coherent and dissipative control. I focus on two recent results, autonomous quantum error correction and non-Abelian Aharonov–Bohm (AB) caging. We demonstrate autonomous correction of magnetic-field-induced dephasing errors. Using four internal levels coupled to ion motion, we encode a logical qubit and engineer dissipation that maps errors onto a shared motional mode, where entropy is removed via laser cooling, eliminating the need for measurement or feedback. Under applied noise, the logical qubit lifetime exceeds that of the uncorrected qubit by more than an order of magnitude, surpassing the break-even point. We also realize non-Abelian AB caging in a six-level spin–motion synthetic lattice. Interference-induced localization leads to strong confinement, with dynamics exhibiting initial-state dependence and directional asymmetry beyond the Abelian case. Finally, we briefly touch on related work, including a quantum van der Pol oscillator, a quantum heat engine, and entanglement between multiple motional modes.