"literally" has been used to mean "figuratively" for hundreds of years, by plenty of famous authors. The idea that "literally" should only mean "actually; without exaggeration or inaccuracy" seems to be the actual recent invention.
"Literally" should be that tool. I understand that a word's meaning is, by definition, what people mean when they say it, but it is frustrating to have this communication tool drift away with nothing to replace it.
As another commenter said, this same thing happened to "very" and "really" in the past. So maybe it's time to let "literally" go and make up a new word for it?
My point is that it isn't "drifting away"—it has been used as an intensifier for hundreds of years.
(That's another one that tends to mean the opposite)
I don't think words have a point.
> What information does it convey if not to say that it is actually, without exaggeration?
Sometimes it does convey that. And sometimes it's merely an intensifier. Lots of words are like that.