[Wilder7977]

I think this is an interesting (although philosophical debate). The library doesn't take destructive actions, it prints a string that says "go do something". This is quite common in logs (e.g., wrong configuration, ensure this value is [...]).

It is the agent that takes the destructive action, following an instruction that was not given by the operator of the agent.

If following instructions outside of the operator can cause malicious or damaging actions, publishing software that does so (I.e., most agents) is publishing malware?

[sokoloff]

If I build a chat bot that encourages people to off themselves, am I in the clear because I didn’t take any destructive action and my chat bot didn’t either?

[Wilder7977]

Apparently yes, judging from the fact that ChatGPT did that with a number of people.

My question though it's another: is it malware a software that does a stdout print, or is it malware a software that takes untrusted instructions and executes commands it decides based on it?

[yjftsjthsd-h]

> is it malware a software that does a stdout print,

If that print is intended to cause damage, then yes.

> or is it malware a software that takes untrusted instructions and executes commands it decides based on it?

No, bash is not malware, even if you pipe curl to it.

[lostmsu]

I would say yes unless they are minors, but the laws in many places don't.