Opening with an atmospheric microtonal intro before heading straight into a hard-rocking garage rock track, “All Is Known” comments on the threats humanity may face at the hands of artificial general intelligence. The lyrics detail a digital being connected to a mainframe of information who argues that humanity should be destroyed, as they’ve become outdated and superseded by cybernetic technology. The song brings to mind other narrative pieces from 2017: notably “Han-Tyumi and the Murder of the Universe” as well as “Tetrachromacy,” which is referenced in the third verse. Around the time “All Is Known” was first being shown to the public, Stu mentioned his concern about the powers of a sentient A.I. “I don’t know, I’ve been reading a lot of things lately. Some people say, a lot of people say that humanity’s greatest threat may be, at this point in time, A.I.”
Two demos of the song have been released, the first on Demos Vol. 3: Music To Eat Pond Scum To. This track is very different from the final studio cut as it's a jam on the breakdown section heard at the end of the studio version. The second demo appeared on Demos Vol. 6: Music To Burn Money To, and is a jam on the body of the song at a slower pace. This version features the breakdown heard in the first demo with the same placement of the final version. King Gizzard played the song live as early as 2017-03-19 at The Night Cat in Naarm (Melbourne). These early versions feature different lyrics and do not include the long intro of the final track. As for the studio version, “All Is Known” was performed by all members of the band: Ambrose (vocals/harmonica/keyboards), Cavs (drums), Cook, (guitar), Eric/Mu (drums) Joey (guitar), Lucas (bass) and Stu (guitar/vocals/saxophone/percussion). The song was recorded at Flightless HQ and mixed by Stu. A single for “All Is Known” dropped alongside “Beginner’s Luck” on December 12th, 2017. It saw a final release as part of Gumboot Soup on December 31st.
Following the release of Gumboot Soup, the earliest known performance of the the studio version was on 2018-02-18 at the Croxton Park Hotel in Naarm (Melbourne). The song was played often throughout the year during the microtonal portion of their shows and has become a decently common track since with appearances every year. “All Is Known” is often played as a standalone song, though it has been added to medleys such as on 2022-10-10 where it transitioned into “Straws In The Wind.”