I think something like that is planned. At least this part from the FAQ gives me that impression:

Q: Will the game require a network connection to play?
A: No. However, some of the AI learning mechanisms will require access to the Metaverse in order to perform analysis on player strategies. This will be optional and able to be disabled by the player but does require an Internet connection.

I'm going to be very much interested in seeing this in action.  Silently mouthed 'wow' to myself as I read this.  Curious question, but how would difficulty settings affect the information the AI is pulling from other players?

A million times This!

On higher difficulties, when the AI can spam at low costs, once through the initial challenge I tend to find the fun factor wears off quickly, and normally move onto another game.  However, basing an AI on top human players, and adapting the AI over time ... as a casual player (i.e. probably a couple of hours per week) what fun this would create if implemented well.  I would likely be lost in this for years.

I see it coming: just playing on dumb mode because on every other level, the AI gets to tricky for me

I would like to see a combination of both ideas. I do think this should at least be above tough level.

What a lot of strategy games do is have 3 tiers of AI difficulty - Easy, Normal, and Advanced. GalCiv has something like 12 different levels. I would like to see GalCiv 3 try something different. There will only be one level of AI but there will be two different game modes - training and normal (or standard). The normal/standard AI will be playing at the highest level without resorting to cheating. The training mode AI will be exactly the same as normal but the game will give lots of help to the player. The game will provide suggestions and explanations on what to build, where to explore, where to attack, etc. As the name implies, this mode helps guide a new player into the game. I don't think playing against an easy AI teaches you how to properly play the game. So let's just drop it. For the more advanced players who want a challenge, the normal game could have some parameters that you can change such as how much money and/or colony ships a civilization starts out.

It wouldn't. 

I am penalizing the dumber AIs by giving them less stuff.

In GalCiv II, the AI played dumber on lower levels. But we had some people, mainly reviewers, presume that the AI was dumb at higher levels but got more stuff so we're moving away from that to just having resources be the big difference.

I think he means more in terms of multipliers on things like economy, ship strength, etc. On "Moron", the AI will be fully functional but only get maybe 10% of the benefits from such things. A planet under their control may only make a quarter as much in taxes as one of yours, and a stock market will only improve that 2.5% instead of 25%. Even the smartest AI won't do too well if they can't afford to build anything.

At the other end, "Suicidal" AIs might get 10x the standard benefits. A single stock market improves that planet's economy by 250%, not 25%, so the AI can afford to spam more ships, and those ships will be much better because the AI can devote huge sums of money to research, and that money converts to techs faster than it does for you (their lab buildings produce 40 tech points; the same building for you makes 4).

That's not "cheating" the same way having the AI just magically materialize ships at the edge of the map might be (which is how some games give their highest difficulty a bonus). The AI is still following the same mechanics as the player, so the player can use the same type of tactics against the AI as would work against a human opponent. The AI can just afford to do everything bigger and faster than you, but it can still be outplayed if the human is good enough.

Note: numbers pulled out of nowhere for illustration purposes.

After tough I would like to see the Ai play harder instead of getting a better economy by default instead of you on the the higher levels with advanced algorithms. Other wise it feels like the game is cheating instead of getting harder.

the AI doesn't need to cheat anywhere near as much as it does

it only does that because the AI is bad and is so far away from competent that it uses stuff like 100% bonuses on everything just to compete with decent humans who are beginning the game

essentially the AI will always be at 100% but recieve more/less and have lower/greater cost based on difficulty

The reason I say that is because that would be a better higher difficulty is a smarter player instead of your opponent getting stuff and not you. I will probably play only on tough, so noone can cheat against each other; because, the computer can't do better without cheating. I am wondering how good I can do against you guys looking forward to playing against you guys. I hope you guys are willing to do the same thing.  Frogboy is right this won't cut down on the cheating threads.