Thinking about subscribing to premium but would enjoy a sedate private game against just “dumb” AI.
Yes I’m crazy, and I know it would not be a challenge since I think the AI just sits there at their original planets?
Can I create games against no other human players in premium?
Yes, you can. You will need to set a password for a custom game and then force start it after joining which will fill all open positions with “Automatons”. And actually, the more AIs you let spawn, the more of a challenge it will be - they usually work together after all 
Thanks for the quick reply. I guess I vaguely remembered the original NP where the AI were really just static. But it has been so long I am just as likely to not be remembering correctly.
No, you remember it correctly. The AI was changed a few years ago.
hardest part of playing against bunch of AI is keeping up with tech,
they trade alot, so if you find it hard just increase the trade cost,