There are major problems with the AI that make it vastly different from a human player.  After much playing, I've noticed three of them that might actually be related...and have a rather simple solution.

First, the AI does not use Super weapons.  Well, clarification on that, they don't BUILD super weapons.   I've played MP games where, once the other humans surrendered, I just finished the game with the AI as substitutes for the human players.  The AI doesn't have any problems using super weapons already built.  However, not ONCE have I seen an AI build a super weapon.  I'm not saying it can't happen, but I haven't seen it.  Even stalling the game so that all factions have all their technology and fully upgraded fleet supply, I have yet to see the AI build one.  Setting the AI on Vicious doesn't even seem to encourage this.

Second, the AI does not appear to change between fighters and bombers...that is, if they build two fighters on a carrier, then that carrier is gonna have two fighters launched from it until its destroyed.  Of course, human players change their strike craft composition.  Early on fighters are great against LRF rushes, later on bombers are better for taking out capital ships and starbases.  When you know the enemy is massing up Illuminators and Iconus Guardians, you know to build fighters.  When you see they later are using Destras, you switch those fighters to bombers by scuttling the strike craft and rebuilding.  Yet, the AI doesn't seem to do this.  I could be wrong, but the most telling evidence that they don't change their strikecraft is the high prevalence of homing mine squadrons.  It is not uncommon to see Aeria's with homing mine squadrons that are never changed.  If the AI changed its strikecraft, it would not keep so many homing mine squadrons around, especially once it's already placed 150 mines or is constantly in battle.

Third, the AI does not understand the importance of maintaining certain research levels.  If you are TEC, you better make damn sure you don't go below 5 military labs if you plan on building Kodiaks.  If you lose a planet, or military labs, you rebuild them.  And if you don't have any more logistic slots, you scuttle trade ports/refineries/broadcast towers so that you can have 5 labs (or however many you want).  However, if the AI goes below a crucial research level, they don't scuttle facilities to build more labs.  If all logistic upgrades are built, and all slots are filled, then the AI won't be raising it's research level unless it colonizes a new planet or its structures are destroyed.

It seems to me, at least, that teaching the AI to use scuttling would help with these three issues.  I find that the AI readily fills up tactical slots with hangers, repair bays, and point defenses.  Essentially, the AI blocks itself out of having room for an 18 tactical slot super weapon since all slots are already filled.  If the AI knew to scuttle these defenses at core worlds behind the front lines, it would likely build these weapons.  Also, knowing to scuttle would prevent an AI that's losing planets from losing its ability to build certain ship types.  And, the AI would be better at switching from a good counter against LRFs to a good counter against HCs.

Maybe I'm missing something here and I'm just giving the AI a bad rap, I don't know.  I almost always play on Unfair against the AI.  The only exception is when I play on a team with another human, in which case the AI difficulty may be cruel or vicious.  I don't know if this effects the AI's strategy in regards to the things I've mentioned, though the AI does seem to play differently on higher difficulties.  For example, cruel and vicious AI's do lots of rushing, throwing units destined to fail at you, and build very few capital ships, while Unfair build up forces and have several capital ships.

I'd appreciate any thoughts on this.  And, if anything I've said here has already been said before, my dearest apologies.  I hope that, if teaching the AI to scuttle does make a more "human" AI, it'd be nice to see an update on it.  I know lots of updates have already been done, but it would seem (though from my limited knowledge on programming and AI) that this would be a relatively quick fix.