Because it's Peter Molyneux and none of the people that work in his office are American lol!
I'm with you though, this is just another reason to stay inside ... why don't I just go walk outside and talk to someone I don't know? That'd save me, what, $500 from buying this garbage? It's still kinda cool though ... I could see them using something like this for like ... service desk help or a kiosk for directions in a mall or something.
I wanna know how the AI works, the freaking kid said "Thousands of people" after the player said it ... did they put those words into the system? I don't understand how it really works. Voices being interpreted clearly and repeated back, it's kinda incredible if you think about it. Like I said I just wonder what the limits are with this project.