Well, the current AI is a placeholder, pretty much unchanged from Alpha 0.31.  The real AI is under development, in parallel with Combat Viewer.

For now, beating up on the placeholder AI is sufficient for you to test the game mechanisms, e.g. research, build-ups, ship movement, invasions, trade routes, etc.  So it's doing its job (for this stage of Beta).

It takes great skill to lose Earth to this AI!

there are some threads bout playing yor...

right now, godlike and beginner probably have the sake algorithms with only the bonus/penalty it gets eing the difference

ou are seeing terrans declare war on the yor because +2 diplomacy vrs -2 doesn't take much to start one... It takes a little more to edge past acting on one started though. If the terrans are declaring war on your yor, you probably won't be doing well enough to get attacked fir tens of turns(it more).

-However- yor that survive long enough wtfpwn terrans  on influence & more if done right.

Terrans are sort of the tricycle/training wheels race while altarians are the other by virtue of being pretty good at everything. Iridium, drengin, & yor have more narrowly tailored less generic sets & bonuses that require more planning to keep the plates spinning around their sacred cows (crap military?, crap morale, &rocket powered arrow to the knee at turn zero basically).  Their strengths lay in the fact that they can provide great journeys loaded with tense/interesting stretches when you play with their weaknesses front & center at the point of your strategic wedge.  Their strengths allow that.

The Ai is admitted to be little more than a placeholder right now & rather basic

Didn't Paul demonstrate this great skill in a developer feed? 

The game is tilted heavily to diplomacy and influence victories. If you keep your head down, don't piss off the AI's and plod along you can beat it almost every time.