Making artificial intelligence for a fighting game is hard. In order to simulate fighting another person the computer not only has to have its own patterns but also respond to what the player does. To do the latter, the computer has to read the player's inputs and adjust. If done well this makes the fight more realistic, but if done poorly the computer can stop anything the player does.
Street Fighter IV's AI does a good job of giving the player some room to fight with the possible exception of final boss Seth. However, the computer still has some patterns that are easy to exploit.
Computer Tendencies and The Inability To Adapt
Street Fighter IV’s character AI is designed to do certain actions at certain times. One example is Abel's Marseilles Roll. If the player is about a character's length away from Abel, Abel will use a roll that makes him invulnerable to anything but throws. This makes him very annoying at first, but if players keep at that distance most of the time they can trigger the roll like a trip wire.
This is the difference between fighting the computer and fighting an actual player. Eventually a player controlling Abel would learn not to roll so recklessly. However, since the computer Abel believes that Marseilles Roll is the best option at that range, it will keep rolling long after a normal player would stop.
There is also no reason to mix up attacks against the computer because the computer will read the player's inputs to select the best course of action. This makes it difficult to play characters like El Fuerte correctly. Sometimes it's better to not be aggressive, since not attacking removes the computer's ability to read moves.
Case Study: Seth, The Final Boss
For new players Seth is a rude awakening, and his moveset that borrows from every character in the game looks unstoppable on paper. Seth will crush any offense thrown at him, and the idea of him being harder to fight in Super Street Fighter IV makes people squirm.
Seth plays by the same rules as the other A.I. though. On medium difficulty and below Seth will only use his normal attacks in the first round, but if the player is close Seth will always attempt his Focus Attack. Each character has a special move that breaks Focus Attacks, so abuse that move as needed.
In the second round Seth has access to all of his specials, but even here the same mentality applies.
Long range: Seth will do Sonic Booms and stretch punches. Eventually he will try a wall jump, which can be punished by anti-air attacks.
Mid-range: In mid and close range Seth will try his stretch punches, Hyakuretsukyaku or Tandem Engine. Stretch punches can be countered with a Focus Attack, Hyakuretsukyaku leaves Seth open if blocked, and the player can recover from Tandem Engine before Seth can attack if they're far enough away.
Teleports: If the player is knocked down Seth will teleport around, eventually stopping next to the player to do a throw or Shoryuken. Most of the time he will appear behind the player so be ready to block or back dash the cross up.
Don't Mess Around: Seth will automatically punish holes in attack strings. It gets worse when he has his Ultra Combo since it can punish at any distance. Also don't bother attacking Seth when he's down. He will anti-air jumping characters, and if he has super meter he will use the invincible EX Hyakuretsukyaku or EX Spinning Pile Driver to get up.
The gameplan is to get to the edge of the screen to make Seth use Sonic Booms. Jump over the projectiles and land at mid-range, then immediately crouch block. All of Seth's moves at this range can be countered or blocked so this is the best place to fight him.
Don't Worry About AI
New players have problems with Seth because playing normally just doesn't work. With online play readily available against a people who can adapt and use different patterns, the computer having good AI isn't as important in the multiplayer-dependent world of fighting games. A good player using Dan is more dangerous than the computer using Seth, so focus more on fighting other players than the final boss.
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