Summary: when in inventory, the cursor pointer icon changes as if offering me the option to interact with things outside the inventory:
Impact: purely cosmetic.
In town, with Leora in the bottom right of my screen.
Same location, but with inventory open. The inventory is overlaying Leora, if i move my cursor over the same area that is occupied by her, the cursor changes as if I am given the option to interact with her. It does not impact my ability to do things in the inventory, I can still pick up items and interact with them, it is only the cursor icon that changes.