The iPhone photo backup data stored on pCloud had somehow ballooned to 555GB.
Thinking I should probably back it up locally as well, I attempted to download it via the pCloud drive mounted on my Mac and directly through the browser. However, likely due to the massive size, both methods kept throwing errors and completely failed.

Wondering if there was a way to reliably download it all at once, I consulted both Gemini and Claude, as I usually do.
To cut to the chase, Gemini's advice was overwhelmingly effective this time.

Claude's suggestion was to "use rsync."
Operating under the assumption that transferring via the Mac mount would inevitably error out after a certain volume, its approach was to "repeatedly run and resume the command even if it stops." Honestly, having to manually retry downloading 555GB of data over and over was not realistic.

On the other hand, Gemini's suggestion was to "use rclone."
It smartly bypassed the root issues of using OS mount features or browsers entirely, promptly presenting a command-line approach specifically designed for file transfers between online storages.
Thanks to this, I have been able to reliably proceed with the task without it stopping due to errors.

The process is still running in the terminal as we speak.
However, I have already confirmed that the files are being steadily transferred to the target local HDD, so all that's left is to simply wait until everything is finished.

Being stuck in a "this just isn't working" situation like I was today made me realize once again how incredibly effective it is to consult multiple AIs in parallel.
Because each AI has variations in their proposals and different strengths and weaknesses, laying their advice side-by-side to find a realistic solution is a problem-solving approach truly unique to our current era.

The Effectiveness of Consulting Multiple AIs: Downloading 555GB from pCloud