A Review of Contact North’s AI Trades Explorer Pro

AI Trades Explorer Pro

I am in the process of evaluating a suite of AI tools from Contact North, Ontario, for students, instructors and administrators.

Contact North offers a suite of eight AI tools for teachers/instructors/students. In six previous posts, I evaluated

• a tool for generating multiple choice questions and answers.
• a tool for generating essay questions and a rubric for answers
• a tool for building a course syllabus
• a tool for building slides
• a tool for creating short, talking head videos (Learning Shorts)
• a tool for supporting student learning through a chatbot based on work assigned by the  instructor (Faculty Assistant)
• a tool for planning post-secondary education and exploring career opportunities in Canada

In this post, I will examine another tool for students, AI TradesExplorerPro. 

What does AI Trades Explorer Pro do?

AI  Trades Explorer Pro allows anyone to explore possible careers in trades in Ontario.

When you log in, you get the following:

Hi, I’m AI Trades Explorer Pro! I’m here to help you plan your education and explore career opportunities in the Ontario trades. Ask me anything—from in-demand jobs in your region to training programs, education options, salaries, or emerging opportunities. Or, try a sample question below to get started.

The three sample questions are as follows:

• What are the top 5 in demand trades in Ontario?What education and training options are there for the trades?What are the top three trades with the highest salary?

What I did

I tested two different scenarios:

• I posed as a male high school student in Sudbury wondering what to do when I leave school
• I posed as a female in Hamilton, Ontario with some trades experience, wanting to return to work after a period of staying home to look after her young children.

The high school student in Sudbury scenario

I asked what the top three trades were in terms of salaries. It gave me a list of four trades offering salaries in the range of $70,000-$90,000 a year, depending on experience, location and specialised skills. I chose ‘electrician’.

It then set out a series of steps needed to become an electrician in Ontario:

• high school qualifications needed
• complete an apprenticeship program of 720 hours study + 6,000 hours on the job experience
• take the certification exam
• find a training provider.

It then asked:

Would you like more information on specific public colleges offering Electrician programs or any other details related to this trade?

I answered ‘yes’ and was offered a list of four Ontario colleges offering electrician programs. On request it then provided advice on how to apply, costs, and financial aid. I then asked what college offer in electrician programs was nearest to Sudbury and was told Cambrian College (which is in Sudbury).

It then on request provided details of the electrical techniques program at Cambrian and among other things I learned that graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills to seek an apprenticeship in the electrical trade and may also qualify for entry-level positions in the electrical field.

I then asked: How do I get a job as an apprentice after completing the Electrical Techniques program? and it suggested eight activities including networking, preparing a resume, etc.

It then asked if I wanted more information about where to find local employers, details on networking opportunities, or tips on preparing for job interviews. I said yes, and it suggested a list of job search platforms, and to try local electrical contractors and electricians’ unions. At this point the bot jammed. (Maybe the bot is anti-union – or the unions don’t want to cooperate with AI). I stopped at this point, as I felt I had enough information.

The working mother scenario

Of the first three question options, I chose: What are the top 5 in demand trades in Ontario? It gave me five trades, and I chose welding (why not?). It looked like there’s lots of work for welders in Ontario. As with the previous enquiry, it then gave me the key education requirements and training. Once I read this I asked: Will they accept females? The bot responded:

females are definitely welcome to pursue a career in welding and in the skilled trades in general. The trades are increasingly promoting diversity and inclusion, encouraging women to enter fields that have traditionally been male-dominated. Many organizations and programs are actively working to support female tradespeople, offering resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities.

The bot then asked if I wanted more information on support programs or scholarships available for women entering the trades. I said ‘yes’ and I got a list of 5 resources and support programs in Ontario that aim to assist women entering the skilled trades, including welding.

I asked about scholarships and grants and was given a list of five types of grants available for women in welding. I asked how I could get a Canadian Welding Association Foundation Scholarship, and the bot gave me six steps to follow. You already need to be accepted in a welding program to get this scholarship so it then asked if I would like help finding a specific welding program. I answered ‘yes’ and it gave me six programs in Ontario. I asked for the nearest to Hamilton and was told Mohawk College (which is in Hamilton), and it gave me brief details of the program. I stopped at this point.

I also asked what I needed to do to increase my salary as a tradesperson in Ontario and the bot gave me specific advice on that, such as how to upgrade my qualifications.

1. Target group (Scale 0-5)

Is it clear who should make use of these tools and for what purpose? 

Yes, this is clearly aimed at anyone thinking of moving into the trades or of doing an apprenticeship program in Ontario. It will also provide advice for people already with a trades qualification looking for better paid work in the trades in Ontario.

I give this a score of 5 out of 5 on this criterion.

2. Ease of use (Scale: 0-10)

• Is it easy to find/log in? I had problems logging in ‘cold’ from Google. You need to use the full web address: https://www.aitradesexplorerpro.ca/ However, it could be just my computer that had this problem with logging in from Google.
• Does it provide the necessary information quickly? Yes, except on one occasion when it ‘jammed’, although I was able to ‘re-route’ fairly easily.
• Is it easy to make use of the questions and answers it provides? As with other of these tools from Contact North, users can copy and transfer each session to a Word or similar document for later use, but there is no instruction on how to do this. Users need a full record of the transactions. There are usually no direct links to college admission sites or to other resources recommended. Urls would be very useful here. 

The bot itself is easy to use. I give ease of use a score of 6 out of 10, mainly because of the recording problem and lack of direct links.

3. Validity and comprehensiveness of information provided

• How valid and comprehensive was the information provided, given the topic? As usual with these tools, the range and accuracy of the responses is truly impressive. The tool is limited to trades careers in Ontario, but that is because of the ludicrously limited transferability of trades qualifications between provinces in Canada. This is a tool that is needed across Canada, but it will probably need different iterations for each province, until internal trade barriers are removed.

• Does it provide relevant follow-up questions or activities? It does the Q and A well. When I reached the end of the Q & A I felt well satisfied. 

I am giving this 9 out of 10, mainly for the comprehensiveness of the responses.

4. Likely outcomes (Scale: 0-10)

• users will end up finding what they want from this site. I am not a specialist in trades careers or trades education, but I think that for many users, this will provide the information they are looking for and will smooth the way to a career in the trades.
• motivates the user. It motivated me. I found the guidance from the bot helpful and logical and was not bored at all in using it.

Total score: 8 out of 10

5. Transparency (Scale: 0-5)

Where do the topics come from? Who says? Does it provide references, facts or sources to justify the recommendations? What confidence can I have in the information provided? 

As far as I can tell (not being an expert in trades careers advice) the information all looked sound, but I would have liked urls not just for the convenience of going direct to an admissions site or application process, but also because I would have more confidence in the information. However, transparency is less of an issue for this tool than for say a teaching or learning tool. I give this 3 out of 5 for transparency.

6. Ethics and privacy (0-5)

I saw no issues here. Users are not asked for personal information or to register and the bot uses information that is (or should be) publicly available.

I give this a score of 5 out of 5.

7. Overall satisfaction (Scale: 0-10)

In Canada, we are desperately short of well trained tradespeople and this tool will make it easier for high school leavers, those becoming unemployed, and those wishing to advance their careers in the trades to find their way. 

I give this 8 out of 10 in terms of satisfaction, although people with more experience of trades training requirements might think differently.

Overall evaluation

I give this a total score of 44 out of 55 – roughly 80%. This tool is very similar (and presumably uses the same technology) as the AI Pathfinder Pro.This is a very useful tool for helping people make decisions about a career in the trades in Ontario.

It is easy to use, comprehensive in the resources it makes available, and is motivating to use. It lost a few points on ease of use, and would be even more very useful if it could be used outside Ontario, but this requires changes in inter-provincial trades mobility, or for other provincial agencies such as BCcampus to adapt it, which should not be difficult technically. These limitations do not take away from the likely value for most users in Ontario trying to decide on their future. Above all, this is a great use of AI in education.

Over to you

Have you used this tool? How useful was it to you? What are the drawbacks? Please use the comment box at the end of this blog post.

Up next

This is the last tool I am evaluating from Contact North’s AI suite of tools. However, analysing these tools has given me a much better insight into the pros and cons of using AI in education.

I congratulate Contact North for developing these tools and making them freely available for testing and evaluation. Many students – or potential students – in particular will find them extremely useful for making decisions about their studies and careers, and for helping them through their courses. I think higher education instructors’ responses will be more mixed.

So I will do at least one more post, probably towards the end of this week, where I will expound on the implications of large language models for teaching and learning in higher education. These implications are profound and will require radical changes in the way university and college students learn, and how instructors will need to teach in the future. So stay tuned!