I do think that Scuttle was originally supposed to converse with the people that went past him. When they originally disclosed the MyMagic+ idea, he was supposed to get info from your Magic Band when you walked by so that he could "recognize" you and it would be more interactive. But, I'm pretty sure that technology isn't there
yet. See below:
"On January 7, 2013, Disney finally made a splashy announcement revealing MyMagic+. In a story in
The New York Times, Staggs called the project "transformational." Disney played up the ways guests would benefit, including how cast members could use data to know when to wish a guest happy birthday, and how a new
Little Mermaid–themed ride would feature an animatronic seagull who could interact with guests wearing the MagicBand. "We want to take experiences that are more passive and make them as interactive as possible—moving from, ‘Cool, look at that talking bird,’ to ‘Wow, amazing, that bird is talking directly to me,’ " Imagineering chief creative executive Bruce Vaughn told the
Times.
...
MyMagic+ was always designed to be a platform to build on, but even the elements the company publicly promised in
The New York Times’ announcement are still missing in action. Though Disney executives still boast, inexplicably, that MyMagic+ lets cast members wish guests a happy birthday, the fact is that feature plainly does not exist. (When I point out to Staggs that cast members don't yet fully take advantage of MyMagic+, he mentions there may be ways in the future to acknowledge a guest's birthday through the program, but also tells me, "You know what, we’ve got the buttons, people put on the buttons [that say] happy birthday, and people say happy birthday, [and] they love it.") Cast members engage with MyMagic+ only in an operational capacity, predominantly at the park entrances, the FastPass+ kiosks, and the guest relations centers. They don’t even wear MagicBands. And that animatronic seagull on the
Little Mermaid ride that was supposed to talk with guests wearing MagicBands? During my visit, it squawked on a loop to an empty room."
http://www.fastcompany.com/3044283/the-messy-business-of-reinventing-happiness#chapter-Be_Our_Guest
