I just had one of those random ideas. Is it possible to utilise the TT mode hotlap data and use as a baseline AI fastline including speed and overall pace? In other words all laps by @nemesis (and others too) would be the 100% AI pace in dry. That way community could contribute in levelling out the AI to real world data, equally slower laps and their ghosts could be used for <100% AI splines too. The obvious advantage is that popular track/car combos would have a decent data for AI and there's obviously less need for AI in less popular, however it can (and surely will) be populated over time. I doubt it's possible, but worth sharing in case it is And Christmas are closer and closer
I think it is a cool idea. However the devs would need to take into account that many TT times are on TT specific setups which wouldn't last for whole races. This also means most tracks would have AI much faster than is possible in race conditions. Also the TT racing lines are questionable at best ! If the devs could use the data with a scaler to consider these things and only take TT times from the current build it would be cool and would hopefully iron out the too slow to too quick sectors the AI seem to have today. I'm more into TT than single player races at the moment and having "real world" paced AI, like Real Racing 3 is meant to have, I would definitely lean back towards racing.
Also beyond setup not lasting more than a couple laps, sometimes techniques don't last beyond a few laps as well. Some of my best times were with little "micro" slides around corners and aggressive techniques that would utterly destroy the tires. My best TT times and my realistic "good lap" in a normal MP quali session are very different. Imho, it would just lead to frustration if the AI is using techniques the normal player has no idea how to use. On another note, maybe bring in a pro driver, have them do a few laps, and base the AI off of that. The driving style would have a more realistic approach than the "hot lap special" and could be a good gauge of skill. Or alternatively, use data from all players to create an average driver. DiRT Rally (while not having to have "car on track" AI) had something like this with the "Community Delta" challenge. The only problem with the latter would be, huge amounts of data to collect, privacy concerns, how to process that data, etc.