Chandrasekhar
Determined
My point is the power graph tells you bugger all about your opponent's military (hell, it doesn't even measure military exclusively). You can't tell what someone's most powerful units are, how many of them he has, how many units he has in general, what cities are well defended, what the state of his cavalry (i.e. fast moving units) is, what is navy looks like, where his units are, etc. However, it seems like the AI knows all of these things without having to send out scouts. I have to send out scouts to get the same information.
On another note, the AI should not be able to judge your strength unless it scouts you properly. Whether it is spreading their religion, sending in caravels or whatever, I don't like how the AI currently senses how powerful you are. If I have to send out recon, so should they. ...and no, the power graph does not count as recon.
I agree that it is sort of lame that they can see the defenses in all your cities and that sort of thing. Then again, it's a pretty small cheat compared to some other things.