Is building Wonders a bad risk?

[Dragon2]

I've been playing at Monarch level, where it seems impossible to maintain a tech lead. Most of the time when I try to build a Wonder, some AI beats me by just a few turns and hundreds of shields go to waste.

Worst case was when I lost out by just one turn. I reloaded an autosave game, rearranged workers to finish one turn earlier, and still lost by one turn. It made me wonder whether if the AI, which seems generally not to cheat, has a way of knowing the schedule for my Wonder and rush-building.

As easier levels building Wonders is straghtforward, because you can get the tech first.

 

[Bugg]

If they get the tech first. Hit F7 to find out which city the A.I. civ is building the wonder in. If you have money you can find out how much production the other city is making and then make your decision If you are low in cash, look at their terrain, If they have a lot of specials or mountains then you might not want to start building a wonder unless you have a backup wonder to build.