They do something if you talk to them before opening the doors. I had to do it from the inside, jumped down into the pit to get the other lever.
You can initiate dialogue through the doors - but sometimes, sometimes they are "out of reach". However, if you start the dialogue from up above, from behind them through the wholes in the floor in the other room, then the characters runs around and down to the doors and then dialogue connects.
So, yeah, its still wonky and glitchy, just like several other instances in the EA.