Such observations, I believe, have deep ramifications for the building of agents. I believe it is a fallacy to assume that the characteristics of an agent are in the code and are limited to what is explicitly described in the code. In fact, the opposite is much closer to the truth. Agents, like any other cultural product, inhere meaning only to the extent that they are understood by, or represent to, the viewer or user. Thus any effective agent interface design project must be concerned with capitalising on the users' store of metaphors and associations.
Agents work only because they trigger associations in the user.
So agent design must include the development of highly efficient triggers for certain desired human responses. An application of semiotics is recommended. Representations are always culturally and contextually specific. Another curious quality of Petit Mal is that it trains the user. People readily adopt a certain gait, a certain pace, in order to illicit responses from the robot.