Does the AI know when you're building a Wonder?

[EverNoob]

I sometimes like to build an early game wonder on immortal, like Stonehenge or Pyramids, when the conditions favour it. And now I can consistently get it before the AI if I have a particularly productive capital or get the +30 from ruins for Aristocracy.

But I did notice something strange. If I start building a wonder and take too long, the AI will beat me to it. That's fine. But I also noticed that if I don't try to build it at all, it seems like the wonder gets built much later in the game than if I had tried to build it. It's as if the AI knows when I try to build a wonder and then races me to it...

Anybody else notice this?

 

[Surgeon]

If the AI has open borders with you (or its early and they can see your city from your border) it should be able to see it under construction like anyone else can.