When we all become robots, this is how we'll talk

I was just thinking about conversation today, because I noticed that the professor who I'm TAing for had a unicycle in his office. I wanted to ask if he rode a unicycle, what kind of experience he has, if he juggles (because the two are often related), etc. But how do you start that conversation? And then what?

On a note that seems unrelated but is actually related: a rules engine is a cool thing. Sometimes they're also called Expert Systems. Maybe there's a distinction between those. I don't know. Anyway, here's how it works: you have some facts, and you have some if-then rules. Each rule triggers when certain facts exist.
For example, I could have the following rules:
1. If I have a dollar, I should buy a can of Arizona iced tea from Entropy.
2. If it's cold, and if I have a hat, I should put the hat on.
3. If I have a drink, and if I'm thirsty, I should drink it.
And I have the following facts:
- I have a dollar.
- I'm thirsty.
- It's cold.
- I don't have a hat.
Then rule 1 will trigger because I have a dollar. Rule 3 will then trigger because then I have a drink and I'm thirsty. Rule 2 will not trigger because all of its conditions weren't met.
That's what I know about rules engines, in a nutshell. Anyway, they're cool. Supposedly, this is how the human mind works, according to ACT-R theory. That was the basis for the "cognitive tutors" that I sort of worked on all summer.

Back to conversations:
I want to start this conversation. So I just want to throw out there this fact: You have a unicycle in your office. He would probably have a rule in his mind that says "If someone mentions the unicycle, say that I belong to a unicycling club." Then I'd have a rule that says: "If someone tells me that he belongs to a unicycling club, do the following: ask how long he's been doing it, and ask if he knows how to juggle too." Etc.

What happened instead? I said "Do you ride a unicycle?" The other two people we were with sort of giggled as if it were a stupid question, because why the hell else would he have a unicycle in his office? The conversation derailed from there.

Point is, rules engines are pretty neat. And if that's how the mind works, that's simple, elegant, powerful, and therefore beautiful.