In response to pjcrowe, that is artful dodging
The question is whether the AI is programmed to research faster than us on normal or not - what you call that doesn't matter to me at all. I just want to have a sense of what I'm dealing with. Soooooo, what is the answer?
Thanks for the compliment!
The answer is, not that I've been able to notice. Be aware that investments are cumulative, but that the cost of a tech is only determined at the moment you complete it. As an example, let's say all provinces provide equal income and that the equation for tech cost is linear. You have ten provinces and are investing 10% of the tech cost each year. You will achieve that tech in ten years. Now, let's say you expand by one province a year, with rising tech costs you are constantly investing 10% of the new cost each year. Let's say each province generates 10 ducats per year. Year one you invest 100 ducats and the cost is 1000. Year two your investments total 210 and the cost is 1100. Year three add another 120 for 330 and the new cost is 1200. Each year, the prior years' investments shrink in size as a percentage of the cost of the tech, meaning it will take more than a decade to finish it, even though you're investing a constant 10% of the current cost.
While the AI in its entirety will always have some of its parts expanding pretty much every year, any given AI country will have long down times in its expansion. Human players, however, tend to have the attitude that they must constantly expand or they will precieve themselves as losing the race. Thus, especially in the first century or two of the game, the human player falls behind in the tech race. Where the human triumphs, however, is when income-generating buildings become available. The human will build Workshops, Constables, Marketplaces, even Custom Houses, in all their provinces to wring every last haypenny they can. This makes the human player's country far more profitable per province than the AIs', allowing them to catch up and surpass the early leaders.
Oh, and based on the rising costs of techs, it's best to occasionally time tech advances so that you complete all five around the same time, and then go on an expansion spree before turtling again.
-Pat