Update: I recoginzed a few of the official AI opponents by their same play style as the Innkeeper. There are no immediately recognizable characteristic .



The latest patch mentions that "internal-rating players (colloquially called “MMR”) may now face up against AI opponents when playing on the ranked Standard ladder."

It makes sense to have an option to auto concede to non-AI opponents. AI opponents will be easier to win against, since their purpose is to "help said players have a more fun experience while learning the game". Playing only with AI opponents also makes the bot less exposed to normal players and have a smaller chance to be reported (I know the developers tried, but the pattern of this bot is still easily recognizable by a human).

it remains to be observed how often these AI opponents will appear, and whether they can be immediately recognized. AI opponents in Mercenaries can be recognized by the following pattern: opponent's name not showing up at first, and then shows "your opponent" shortly after, or "Innkeeper" after reconnecting.



Update: No luck. I am at silver 10 and I don't think I managed to see an ai opponent after a dozen of attempts.

Update: After the latest game update, AI opponents in Mercenaries now have a same fixed name. It can still be recognized by not showing up in the friend list as recent opponents.