We are a social animal.  We care what others think about us.<p>But we don&#x27;t care what computers think.<p>So there is also a role for humans in mentoring systems.  Software can remind us and track whether we&#x27;ve met our objectives.  It can do the boring, repetitive work.<p>But the interactions really only mean something if your mentor is in the loop.  He or she might be asking you a question.  Or maybe its the software, with the mentor having only approved the question and seeing the response.<p>This blended system could greatly reduce the effort involved in mentoring someone.  And if everybody knows its the software asking repetitive questions (Is this done yet?), the mentor doesn&#x27;t come off as a nag either.