Can you improve by playing bots/computer?

??? I am asking because I play a lot of games against the bots aka the computer and I am wondering if they actually help you improve your chess or if playing online matches against other people is better.

Do not play a machine.

Play against a human  and analyse the game later.

Take help from a stronger player for analysis.

It'd be better if you play other people. Your rating is a good way to keep track of your improvement and it's more fun.

As a beginner playing slowly AND badly, I would be wasting the time of a decent player.  For now, I can play the bots and learn from my very basic mistakes.  I do look forward to seeing my rating.

In his stream Hikaru nakamura recommended playing higher ranked bots.

I'm using bots and have noticed Komodo7 (1100) is a good match but the AI makes bad moves sometimes like not taking material and letting me take the queen but I don't win all the time so it's a good level to practice before I start playing human players. Soon I'll have outgrown Komodo7 but for now it's still a challenge.

The answer to both of your questions is "yes." It's true that playing bots will help improve your chess, but it's also true that playing other people is better. I play almost exclusively against bots and have learned a lot from analyzing those games. Having said that, I'm content knowing I'll probably never advance past low intermediate.

Yes, you can improve by playing against a strong engine. It will make you humble and strong.

I've noticed higher rated bots will sacrifice their own queen to capture mine at the earliest opportunity suggesting it's a good idea to get used to games where both queens have been captured and how this affects the tactical value of remaining material.

I'm not a great player, but will offer my opinion; The beginner bots make a lot of blunders that most average human players won't make.  The intermediate bots typically seem to be more solid in the opening and may make a blunder, or sacrifice in the middle game you're not going to see or understand.  The higher level bots will probably put you in a bad position and you're not even going to know how you got there.  I can routinely beat bots at least 400-500 points higher than my rating playing other people.

I would say you'd be better off in the long run setting your game settings to limit your games to people approximately 200-300 points higher than you and then play and analyze those games (multiple times).  Have it turned on to show you 'best moves' and then when you see one you don't understand you the option to 'follow that line' and let it play through the moves to show you why it was a better move and improve your position.

Just my .02

Gotham said you don't jump in the sea before you learn how to swim, 2 games max, analyse, work on theory.

Playing humans is better, especially at lower levels where the engine makes really irrational moves.  That being said, I don't think it's as bad as people say.  I play against the Fritz engine all the time for long games because it's hard to find humans to play long time controls.

bots are either terrible or demoralizing & you can't chat with them without using a bunch of 0's & 1's... play people instead!     😆

I'm not very good but when I play bots my goal is to 1)  avoid blunders. Once I get those under control, it will be 2) avoiding mistakes.... That said, it is more fund (tense and exciting to play real people) and read books on the game. I wish I found chess at a much younger age! 

@sillverthedoor:  As an adult improver, You may be interested in my blog:  https://www.chess.com/blog/foobarred1

thanks for this!