Hmm. How does it help the AI? I'm not sure at all whether it, say, tries to prolong a ship's useful existence via retrofits and so forth, and off-hand I don't remember seeing it (on Medium) build training centers of any kind.
In fact, in my current game, for quite some time and probably still the AIs had a significant lead in ships, and almost certainly warships (255-system game, and I'm pretty sure I've fewer than 25 DNs running around
), but mine Last *far* longer since they're normally three times as fast, with comparable or superior weaponry, similar levels of armor and shielding and unlimited supplies -- and a human being controlling them in tactical combat.
I had a single DN, Novice (+0%), operating solo, completely destroy a XiChung fleet of 7 DNs and 1 CA (all w/ Organic W. 6, good Org Armor III/shielding, sensors, ECM, etc -- just *slow* as molasses) in four consecutive attacks, without sustaining any damage past shields. After these fights, it was Legendary (+41%).
Until the AI figures out how to build and use ships in such a way that they'll Last, I'm figuring that this will hurt them more than any possible compensation for losing the Ship Construction research race.
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-- The thing that goes bump in the night