I am not the expert by any stretch of the imagination, but, my understanding of an exploit is to "cheat" the AI by using loopholes in its logic to gain an unfair advantage. There are standard rules against exploits for games of the month and other comparative games where gamers want to understand where they stand in relation to others. An example of exploits of which I am aware: trading for AI workers very early in the game (AI goes for it and stunts their growth) or continually founding cities that push several squares into an AI's civ so that their capital or important city is within immediate range for an attack. there are many examples, but I am not sure where they are posted in this forum.