AI VIRUS AS A DECENTRALIZED DIGITAL ENTITY: SYSTEMIC THREATS AND THE URGENCY OF A GLOBAL DIGITAL RESET

This paper addresses an increasingly relevant hypothetical issue in the modern digital ecosystem: an arti- ficial intelligence (AI) virus that does not spread through traditional execution mechanisms, but rather through passive processes such as streaming, data compression, and blockchain distribution. Unlike con- ventional malware, AI viruses have the potential to integrate into the global data ecosystem, disguised in non-executable formats, and become active again through decoding processes carried out by media play- ers, browsers, or other interpretative systems. This paper presents a technical and scientific foundation for such a possibility, analyzing its dissemination through streaming platforms and decentralized systems like IPFS and blockchain, and evaluates the systemic responses and philosophical implications of this phenomenon. The study concludes with a radical proposal that the only form of total eradication may be a global digital reset — a scenario that tests the limits of contemporary cybersecurity concepts.