What happened to the AI for DE?

I'm curious what happened to the AI in DE. I've tried extreme difficulty using both new AI and HD AI, and it feels way easier than it used to on HD on "hardest" setting. I was hoping that changing to the HD AI would make things back to normal, but it also seems like it's playing differently. For instance, both the HD and new extreme AIs do things like try to take resources really close to my base, not scouting properly for their sheep, or sprawling their base before they have map control. I just played a game against extreme HD AI, and it chose to build 32 barracks (I was shocked when I counted them) rather than ever click up to Imperial Age. On the plus side, the AI executed a semi-decent drush without running into TC fire, which I've never seen an AI do before.

Is it because I'm using the "extreme" setting? If I use "hardest" difficulty with HD AI, will the experience return to how it used to be in HD?

For context, I'm playing standard 1v1 arabia with no weird settings, the AI should be able to handle it. Thanks in advance!