From Tool to Partner to Agent? A Critical Systematic Review of Human-AI Relationships in Literary Education

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-593-5_86How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Human-AI collaboration; literary education; systematic review; human agency; critical AI literacy; creativity

Abstract

LLMs are entering literary education, often framed as shifting from tool to partner to agent. Based on a PRISMA systematic review of 67 studies (2021–2026), we propose a revised Tool–Partner–Agent framework evaluated by technical maturity, pedagogy, and interpretive autonomy. Key findings: (1) 69% of studies remain at Tool phase—strong efficiency gains (d = 0.59–0.71) but shallow understanding. (2) Partner phase enhances fluency (d = 0.58–0.71) but reduces originality (d = -0.43) and authorial voice, with educational level as a strong moderator. (3) No mature Agent system exists; speculative designs risk algorithmic authority and the automation of interpretation paradox. We conclude with design principles and six research priorities.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - Mingqin Zhou
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/30
TI  - From Tool to Partner to Agent? A Critical Systematic Review of Human-AI Relationships in Literary Education
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Humanities, Wisdom Education and Service Management (HWESM 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 794
EP  - 799
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-593-5_86
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-593-5_86
ID  - Zhou2026
ER  -