Humanistic digital ethics education in the AI era: a convergence of pancasila values and catholic social teaching

The rapid development of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) has generated new ethical challenges for education, including cyberbullying, misinformation, digital exclusion, and the erosion of human-centred values. Existing digital ethics education frameworks often emphasise technological competencies and regulatory approaches while giving limited attention to moral formation and human dignity. This study aims to develop a conceptual model of humanistic digital ethics education through the integration of Pancasila values and the principles of Catholic Social Teaching articulated in Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Employing a qualitative design, the study used thematic-hermeneutic analysis involving open coding, axial thematic grouping, and selective coding to examine the normative convergence between Pancasila values and the principles articulated in Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. Data analysis was supported by NVivo 15. The findings reveal five interconnected dimensions of humanistic digital ethics education: moral integrity, solidarity and human relationships, responsibility and conscience, justice and the common good, and humanistic character formation. Human dignity emerged as the central principle that unifies and guides all dimensions of the model. The study demonstrates that digital ethics education should extend beyond digital literacy and technological competence to foster moral awareness, ethical judgment, social responsibility, and commitment to the common good. The proposed model contributes to the literature by providing a humanistic framework that integrates local cultural wisdom with universal ethical principles, thereby expanding current approaches to digital citizenship education. Furthermore, the model offers a theoretical foundation for Catholic education in the AI era by promoting the development of ethically responsible, socially engaged, and morally resilient digital citizens. These findings have implications for the design of educational policies, curricula, and pedagogical practices that place human dignity at the centre of technological development and digital transformation.