From Vatican Theology to Lived Reality: SIGNIS Philippines Launches “I AM STILL HUMAN” Web Series to Unpack Landmark AI Encyclical

MANILA, Philippines — When Pope Leo XIV issued Magnifica Humanitas (On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence), Catholic communicators across the Philippines saw an immediate connection to their ongoing work.

For SIGNIS Philippines, the papal document mirrored the strategic priorities of its Cybermission 3.0 initiative. The encyclical’s core themes echoed the program’s practical design—from ethical prompting guidelines and an 80-20 rule balancing heart with digital tools, to its explicit roots in Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 social justice landmark, Rerum Novarum.

Yet church leaders faced a familiar hurdle: papal encyclicals, no matter how timely or urgent, often remain confined to academic circles and pastoral letters. They rarely reach ordinary parishioners, students, or workers navigating digital pressures in their daily lives.

To bridge that gap, SIGNIS Philippines launched “I AM STILL HUMAN: Navigating the AI Landscape through Magnifica Humanitas.”

This is an online discussion produced in partnership with TV Maria, Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), EWTN Global Catholic Network, and the Episcopal Commission on Social Communication (ECSC), the 5-part web series translates high Vatican theology into practical choices. Each episode opens with a relatable moral dilemma, features real human experiences, and brings together regional experts and grassroots advocates from across Asia.

The series moves through five distinct areas of daily life, tracing a path from personal psychology to global ethics:

In the opening episode, Reclaiming Human Limits: The Beauty of Being Broken, co-hosts Edwin Lopez (EWTN) and Fr. Felmar Fiel, SVD (Radio Veritas Asia) sit down with Dr. Anna You from South Korea and Dr. Hemmady Mora from the Philippines to confront the pressure of algorithmic perfection. Drawing on the encyclical’s “theology of fragility” (MH 118) the panel addresses the “always-on” trap of digital culture. The speakers emphasize that human limitations—fatigue, mistakes, and vulnerability—are not technical bugs to be fixed, but essential spaces where genuine empathy, learning, and love take root.

Building on Rerum Novarum’s defense of working people, Webisode 2, The Dignity of My Sweat: Labor vs. Algorithmic Exploitation, features host Fr. Felmar Fiel, SVD in conversation with Adrian Pereira, Executive Director of the North-South Initiative in Malaysia, and Felix Tonog, Executive Director of the Philippine Council for NGO Certification. Together, they examined the hidden toll of automated management, workplace tracking software, and underpaid data-labeling labor across Asia (MH 112, 128 & 151). The panel exposes how “black box” algorithms reduce human effort to cold metrics, calling on institutions to protect labor as a sacred expression of human dignity.

Hosted by SIGNIS Philippines President Pie Mabanta-Fenomeno, the third episode, Reclaiming the Town Well: Resisting Synthetic Care, tackles the crisis of trust sparked by hyper-realistic deepfakes and artificial companion apps (MH 102 & 239). Featuring Indian media educator Dr. Magimai Pragasam, the discussion uses the biblical account of Jesus at the well (John 4) to critique “synthetic care.

The panel points out that while an AI app can simulate warmth, it can never suffer or truly care for someone. The episode urges local communities to build device-free physical spaces where face-to-face trust can recover.

In Webisode 4, The Algorithmic Household: Shielding the Cradle of Presence, host Fr. Felmar Fiel, SVD brings together Nattaporn Santhanawit, Business Development Director at Digitalpass Co., Ltd. in Thailand, and Asst. Prof. Florence Flores-Pasos from the University of the Philippines Diliman. The guests discuss how attention-driven platforms penetrate private homes to harvest behavioral data (MH 112 & 115). Describing the home as a vital “cradle of presence,” the panel challenges software developers to respect family boundaries while encouraging households to establish practical analog habits, such as screen-free family meals.

Hands on the Brake: Global Tech Ethics and Systemic Responsibility, concludes the series, with host Pie Mabanta-Fenomeno joined by Dr. Peter Rachada Monthienvichienchai, Secretary General of SIGNIS World and a Doctor of Computer Science. Together, they examined corporate media infrastructure, algorithmic bias, and automated decision-making (MH 280 & 295). Dr. Peter dismantles the idea that technology is neutral, showing how algorithms reflect the economic interests of their developers. He advocates for structural moral governance and champions “synodality”—listening patiently with the heart—as humanity’s essential safeguard in an automated age.

The full “I AM STILL HUMAN” series is now streaming on the SIGNIS Philippines YouTube Channel. And, to help parishes, schools, youth ministries, and community groups put these ideas into practice, SIGNIS Philippines will release a downloadable applied learning module titled “What Keeps Us Human In the Age of AI” by the end of the quarter.

The central message of the series remains clear: technology itself is not the enemy—our diminishing human presence is. While digital tools will always have flaws and commercial biases, choosing to remain authentically present, empathetic, and connected ensures that our humanity will not be displaced.