I'm pretty recent to this game so I don't feel like I have much say but honestly I wholly love it and would love to see it continue.
My personal opinion would be option 1. I don't hate AI and honestly kinda like it, but if you would personally prefer 2 then do what is more fun for you.
Honestly so long as the choice isn't 4, then they are all good options.
P.S. thanks for the introduction to Big Aspirations <3