Ok so @lark-and-lyrebird here's what I've got so far.
On opening chrome, the browser runs a check to see if a certain file (weights.bin) is installed in a specific directory. A layman friendly explanation is to think of it like a library checkout.It asks the librarian "Hey, do you have a book in this library (directory) about a prince (weights.bin)"
The computer checks for that file. From here it actually goes one of two ways.
1. The Librarian successfully finds the book in question (weights.bin) in the library (directory). In this case, no further action is taken. Chrome proceeds as normal.
2. The Librarian fails to locate the book for some reason (file isn't in that directory, directory doesn't exist, corrupted drive prevents reading that directory, etc). In this case, Chrome will make a request to the webserver for the [File, Directory, or other item(s) as needed] to be sent to the computer. This file is immediately, and quietly, downloaded and placed into the directory/the directory is placed into the root file structure*. Chrome then proceeds as normal.
Every so often, Chrome will make another call to the library to check if the file/directory is still there. Steps 1 and 2 will repeat indefinitely.
A lot of the technical information in the article is just details of how the guy confirmed this, basically using normal tools like a command line to ask the computer "Hey, did we get any new books recently? What were they? Where are they located?", so most of it is actually essentaily extraneous information for the average person.
MacOS, at a file system level, runs functionally the same as Windows, in that once an application is told "Yeah, you can download and install files to the OS", it is granted effectively Root permissions.** That is to say, the OS does not check that the item being downloaded is actually something the user allowed personally, it just checks if its malware.***
iOS, on the other hand, actually functions very differently. I'm not exactly sure how its permissions are handled, but I am reasonably confident that Chrome would not be able to run a microAI on an iPhone, due to iOS permissions being so vastly different and weird compared to desktop OS's.
The shortest answer is, you can't really "do" anything about it. Chrome will continue to reinstall this. The longer answer is that you can disable a bunch of stuff in the chrome://flags settings, which can be accessed simply by typing chrome://flags into your address bar and enabling or disabling permissions. I would look up a tutorial on what you need to enable/disable. Unfortunately I haven't used chrome in almost 10 years, so I don't personally know what is in there, and I refuse to install what is effectively malware onto my computer, even if it is for the common good. The good news is, I am aware that the process is really straightforward. There's no tricks or passwords or secret keybinds you have to press, to my knowledge.
Going back to your note about how she has to have chrome, I would consider looking into web browsers that run on Chromium, which may avoid the problem by not being True chrome browsers. Chromium is the basis of Google Chrome, but its also the basis of browsers like Opera, Vivaldi, Puffin, Microsoft Edge, and Brave. You could consider having her check some of those and see if perhaps they work. I cannot guarantee that they will function the way she needs, and I can't even guarantee that they won't install the AI module, but there's a better chance with them than with Chrome.
*It is incredibly rare for anything to be placed in Root, as it requires very high permissions to be accessed, and most programs simply do not have those permissions unless you go out of your way to give them.
**As said above, programs do not typically get Root permissions, and its very rare that one will even need root. I'm certain there's exceptions but I don't know the specifics.
***The OS itself does not actually check if its malware, thats handled by the firewall and the antivirus of the computer. Which, in apple's case, is actually OS level iirc, but in Window's case its Window's Defender or whatever third party antivirus you use.
