OpenAI is showing off the latest version of its ChatGPT software in a new set of promotional videos, sounding almost human in the way it talks to users, inviting all sorts of sci-fi comparisons. But AI chatbots are already here, using large language models to simulate human speech, emotion — and even relationships.

As this technology goes increasingly mainstream, what will it mean for our "real life" relationships? Can you actually have a meaningful relationship with a computer program? And if you can… is that something you want to trust a tech company with? Philosophy instructor Jill Fellows tackles the big questions about the future of AI companions.

CBC’s chief political correspondent, Rosemary Barton, returns to explain the latest dust-ups in Ottawa.

Will the tax changes the Liberals are promising impact only Canada’s richest?

Why is a fight over public service workers returning to the office three days a week leading to threats about government services?

And why are the NDP accusing the Conservatives of attacking women’s reproductive health?

The Women's National Basketball Association has been around for 30 years now, but has long struggled to stand out in an increasingly busy marketplace. The league has also struggled with viewership, and pay equity. 

But they may have finally found a star transformative enough to break out of the pack. Her name? Caitlin Clark. 

Just before Clark's professional debut with the Indiana Fever, CBC's Shireen Ahmed joins the show to discuss the WNBA's talismanic star, what some are referring to as a 'golden age' for women's basketball, and Canada's role in it all.

Eurovision might best be described as “the Olympics meets American Idol”: a singing contest where countries face off for the number one spot in musical glory. It’s incredibly campy, silly, and mostly very fun.

But this year’s Eurovision — which wrapped on the weekend — was dogged by controversy, as organizers faced protests for allowing Israel to compete amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, insists the contest is “non-political”. But our guest today argues that geo-political ideals and tensions have coursed through this competition since its inception in 1956.

Tess Megginson — a PhD candidate studying central and eastern European history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — explains.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

There were scenes of celebration in Gaza last Monday, as word spread that Hamas had accepted the terms of an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal.

But the same day, Israel rejected the deal. Its military has since ordered more evacuations and pushed further into Rafah, considered a last refuge for over 1 million Gazans displaced by the war.  

So what would it take for Israel to agree to a ceasefire? If it wants the safety of hostages, why didn’t it take a deal to release them? And what could the human cost of this last push for Israel’s “total victory” be? 

Julian Borger is the Guardian's world affairs editor.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Whether it’s a complex network of fake online designer shops set up to get your credit card details, a scammer impersonating your bank’s fraud department to get more personal information, or a simple “How are you today?” text that might lead to asking you to invest in a crypto scheme…scams are on the rise. And they are getting more sophisticated.

Today on the show, David Reevely, who covers cybersecurity for The Logic, on the evolution of scamming and what you can do to guard against it.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

On Friday, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre published an op-ed criticizing Canadian businesses’ use of lobbyists. He’s also called out the Liberals for high-priced fundraisers and "undue handouts” to the business lobby.

But since Poilievre became leader, dozens of federal lobbyists have also paid to attend the roughly 50 private fundraising events he’s spoken at.

So despite all the critiques of big money and lobbying in politics, why do they still seem to be everywhere? How has lobbying shifted power in our democracy? And if parties are concerned, why haven’t any of them made bigger efforts to reform it? 

Duff Conacher has been pushing for MPs to close lobbying loopholes for almost three decades. He’s a co-founder of Democracy Watch, a non-profit advocating for government accountability. 

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

In June of 2023, Sikh activist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., after evening prayers. Three men have now been arrested and charged with his murder, and all three are affiliated with a gang with ties to Punjab. But sources close to the investigation believe these men were just hired guns, acting on orders from the top levels of the Indian government's intelligence service.

CBC senior reporter Evan Dyer breaks down his exclusive reporting on this story and the increasingly blurring lines between organized crime and Indian foreign policy.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

Unless it was dismantled last night after we put this podcast to bed, the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University is now entering into its 11th day. It's just one of several across Canada, and one of many more across North America.

So last Tuesday, we headed to Montreal to check out the McGill encampment for ourselves. 

We went to speak to students there about their central demand: divestment. We wanted to learn more about what it means, why the students are calling for it, and why the broader push that “divestment” is part of — the movement known as BDS — is so controversial.

For transcripts of Front Burner, please visit: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/frontburner/transcripts 

Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

On May 1st, the people behind a subreddit called r/loblawsisoutofcontrol launched a nationwide boycott of Loblaw-owned stores for the month.

The very same day the boycott began, Loblaw Companies Limited released its first quarter earnings numbers. Its profits went up by almost 10%, and its revenue by over $13-billion.

Today on Front Burner, why did Loblaw become the primary target of Canadians’ grocery anger? Can something like a boycott or more competition really keep it in check? And should we think of Loblaw less like a retailer, and more like Amazon?

Vass Bednar is our guest. She's the executive director of McMaster University's Master of Public Policy and Digital Society program.