Would they succumb to the allure of cheap, readily available data, or would they strive to build an AI that truly reflected the richness and diversity of the human experience?.... In the bustling heart of Silicon Valley, nestled amongst towering tech giants, a small, scrappy startup called “Echoes” was making waves. They were developing an AI, “Seraph,” that was surprisingly sophisticated, considering their meager budget. “We’re not throwing billions at hardware,” boasted CEO, Anya Sharma, in an interview with a tech publication. “Our secret? Free data. The internet is a treasure trove. All those articles, images, videos… it’s all fuel for Seraph.” Seraph quickly gained a reputation for its witty conversational skills and impressive ability to summarize complex topics. However, there were whispers amongst the AI research community. “It’s a mimic,” some argued. “A clever parrot regurgitating information from the web.” Anya dismissed thes...