I was wondering if there was any correlation between each respective tier (silver, gold etc.) and the AI difficulty Blizzard included for solo play (I mean melee and custom games, not the campaign). Now I know that high level starcraft game is a world beyond what even the computer can do on Insane, but I was just curious as to what you guys thought. 
 
I've never played Starcraft before and had difficulty beating the AI on normal earlier last week. Now I've moved up to a guaranteed win against the AI on Very Hard but am getting my arse handed to me on Insane. Played one practice match online a few days ago and I got wiped out hard. Don't have any multiplayer experience other than that so thought it best to field the question over to you guys. It's an odd question I know, and I'm half expecting to be told that the AI wouldn't even be a match for most players on the lower tiers but bear with me.

I would think the best way to learn how to play against other people is to actually play other people. I pretty much started with the practice league, and after 10 games I could win about half my games. And you got 50 practice games so you will have more than enough games under your belt when you are done. After 10 games I decided to skip, and was placed in the bronze league where I win, again, half of my matches. And I haven't really touched a multiplayer RTS before.

The AI is a bit lame. I'm sure most Diamond players can handle Insane without trouble, but the free resources it gets forces you into an artificial and silly playstyle that doesn't translate  well to normal 1v1 games.
 
There's no deliberate direct correlation between AI and tier level, but don't get too worked up over Insane, it's not a good representation of a human opponent anyway.

" The AI is a bit lame. I'm sure most Diamond players can handle Insane without trouble, but the free resources it gets forces you into an artificial and silly playstyle that doesn't translate  well to normal 1v1 games.  There's no deliberate direct correlation between AI and tier level, but don't get too worked up over Insane, it's not a good representation of a human opponent anyway. "

Actually they don't get free resources. I totally thought so at first as well, but i looked at a replay and they start off with the resources as everybody else.  
 
What does make them cheap however is the fact that the computer has over 1000 APM while most pro players are only in the 200s. Facing against the computer doesn't actually help you much other then to do stuff quick and exploit stupid AI stuff that wouldn't work on a thinking opponent.  
 
even on insane, the computer will never do funky stuff like mass hatcheries all over the map like what happened to Brad. That type of thinking is where the real fun is. 

" The AI is a bit lame. I'm sure most Diamond players can handle Insane without trouble, but the free resources it gets forces you into an artificial and silly playstyle that doesn't translate  well to normal 1v1 games.  There's no deliberate direct correlation between AI and tier level, but don't get too worked up over Insane, it's not a good representation of a human opponent anyway. "