Brad indicated that he feels that trading is a strong point with AI intelligence. Maybe, maybe not.
In a recent game early on, (50-60 turns), I am trading with the 2-3 factions I have met. The negotiations went nowhere. The AI offers were ridiculously one sided. They offered techs that were low valued (4-5 turns) in exchange for 10-15 turn techs. I am not sure where they get the turn times. They don't jibe with my tech schedule so I guess they are theirs. That middle bar is meaningless since it only represents the ai opinion.
The question is, am I being treated poorly because I have ignored the diplomacy techs or are they broken? One or the other has to be true.