Open World to Open Thought - Future of Gaming?

I figured I ought to show off my character if I'm going to bitch so much about his experience. So, introducing Yogota; Jedi Guardian and all around asshole. I like to think he's seen some heavy shit in his upbringing, hence all the facial scars- possibly a run-in with street gangs on whatever backwater planet he comes from. The addition of the mechanical eye only is meant to supplement this notion and in my own way, it's a small nod to Metal Gear Solid's- Big Boss, a hero turned villain. Much in the same way I see my own character turning to the dark side given enough time. While you can't see it here, Yogota is bald as well. Though to be fair I saw some killer chops and mohawk combo I've been digging for a while now- perhaps next go around I'll play as an Imperial Agent with some serious Irish influences haha. There's a certain character from Prometheus I've really wanted to emulate... maybe when I grow up one day I'll be that cool.

I've been reminded more than anything from this game, how much I love choice. But how difficult it can be to offer the player true freedom of expression. For example, the game offers three responses to choose from  with numerous points in which I can respond throughout the conversation. The problem is, three responses often aren't enough- or worse yet, my characters possible reactions don't fit within my personal reactions as a player. While the characters response may be simply 'I don't have time for this.' in reality my thinking may often be much more complicated and rational. That's hard to emulate in a game- and in a world with strict light side/dark side values, this would probably prove impossible. Though that's not to say I couldn't think of a few creative ways to judge a person's light/dark balance.
But all this talk of 'free will' in gaming got me to thinking, and the truth is free will doesn't mean the same thing in gaming as it does in real life. There are always limitations, whether it be the edge of the map, or context of the story. But in this case when we're talking about conversations, they're ideas- and ideas don't need to be visually displayed to be real. They're as real as you thinking them into existence (or typing them in this case). There's a positive- and negative side to this however.

This line of thought lead me to wonder if the next evolution in open world gaming, was an open thought AI. Much like how CleverBot adapts to your conversation and draws upon a database of information to fill in the gaps of conversation with various elements that make CleverBot feel real. I imagine open world games, or MMOs like The Old Republic would benefit from a system where you can stand toe to toe with a NPC and argue your point. Better yet, what if the NPC could avoid giving your a quest based on your responses? It would offer the player an even deeper level of emersion into the world.
Now, an obvious catch would be how difficult it would be to craft a response to the player. Text to text conversations are simple. But in today's world where the NPCs are expected to speak to the character directly using Voice Actors- it would be difficult, if not feasibly impossible to hire hundreds of Voice Actors and record the number of responses required for a full AI system across an open world game such as this. But, who knows- the future leads to a lot of surprises.

But if I could dream a bit: I would be really encouraged to play any game where part of the drama isn't just the action of gunfire and chaos- but the human element. Where people aren't nearly as predictable and your character is forced to deal with not just the situations, but the NPCs emotional state, intelligence level and even factors such as racism, sexism, or personal beliefs.