Understanding the purpose of "CAI Helper" installed by Photoshop 22.4

[heshuimu]

My Photoshop auto-updated to 22.4 earlier today, and I noticed an application called "cai-helper"appeared in my /Application directory. I thought it was malware, then I noticed that Photoshop mentioned it in "What's new" (but only there), and it was installed around the same time as Photoshop itself.

The app bundle did not give enough info to deduce what this is for. So the question is what does this thing do, and why is it not mentioned anywhere else? And why is it not inside the Photoshop directory?

[ARJ]

I imagine it is associated with the "Content Authenticity Initiative". More info. here:

https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2020/10/20/content-authenticity-initiative-unveils-content-attribu...

[Jon23448731rtq2]

This is a huge over reach and a massive trojan horse for something insidious...Seems like i can see which way photosop is leaning politically because no corporation does anything like this out of the goodness and kindess of their heart....for the "artist" much less. No one give a crap about artists. They are free marketing and image generators. If adobe really cared about artists they would do something about marketing firms and other massive companies that rob artists of their work. 

[Conrad C · Accepted solution]

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@Jon23448731rtq2 wrote:

 If adobe really cared about artists they would do something about marketing firms and other massive companies that rob artists of their work. . 

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The Content Authenticity Initiative largely exists because artists got sick of people ripping off their work, or altering their work without permission to create inflammatory images. Content Authenticity is a way to help prove who truly created and has the rights to an image, by using a voluntary provenance trail to distinguish an original work from unauthorized copies.

From the CAI home page:

“We are a community of media and tech companies, NGOs, academics, and others working to promote adoption of an open industry standard for content authenticity and provenance.”

It is not tied to one corporation. It is an open standard technology arrived at after discussions that included nonprofits and news organizations.

And no, a corporation probably wouldn’t do this out of the “goodness of their hearts” but if you follow the money, the motivation for Adobe would be better PR for Photoshop. For example, to a lot of people the term “Photoshopped” already means “faked image,” so the company might have decided it was it in their best interests, commercially, to add technology that helps prove how images have been modified or not modified, and also prove which creator really owns it. In other words, Photoshop is currently seen as part of the problem of image copying and theft, so adding Content Authenticity can now help Photoshop become part of the solution.

[henryg83261975]

Jon how often do you go directly from discovering something new into complete paranoia, without first googling it?

I have good news for you; this condition is curable. 

[hanil7up]

Excellent!  🙂

[mehadi28596717o1nl]

If I remove this from my machine will it impact the Adobe Products?

[Sameer K]

Hey, @mehadi28596717o1nl. I'll clarify this for you.

It is harmless, and it is a necessary component for Content Credentials to work in Photoshop. Content credentials will help to make your work in Photoshop safe for commercial use.

You can learn more about this from the content shared by @PECourtejoie below: https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-ecosystem-discussions/understanding-the-purpose-of-quot-cai...

Thanks!
Sameer K

[moocharoo]

I just had the pop-up from cai-helper asking for access to all my files, I paniced, shut down my PC and turned off my router to reset my IP address 😝
They really should have come up with a better name for this app that gave a clear link to it being part of Photoshop.

[sjc8sjc8]

Same thing just happened to me

[jonesdronz]

on my machine as well. Very annoying 

[Nobody By Sara]

Exactly, I freaked out too. I had to take a screenshot, close everything down and then get back and google what this is.

[TheDigitalDog]

Not on my Mac. But see: 

https://community.adobe.com/t5/photoshop-beta-discussions/gett-rid-of-cai-helper/m-p/13107262

[PECourtejoie]

Hello, a google search also gave me this helpx page: https://helpx.adobe.com/uk/photoshop/using/content-credentials.html