How We Use AI as Foreigners in Japan
Living in Japan often means running into problems that would be much easier if you had stronger Japanese, more technical knowledge, or enough money to hire someone else. AI has started filling some of those gaps for us, especially when it comes to work, translation, and dealing with Japanese websites.
In this episode, Devin and I compared how we use AI in our daily lives as foreigners in Japan. We talked about the things it has helped us create, the time and money it has saved, and the mistakes that remind us why human judgment still matters.
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Doing More Without Hiring Someone Else
AI became useful to both of us when it started helping with real work. Devin uses it as a copywriter and has also been using it to learn Python and automate parts of his workflow. Instead of manually moving information between files and programs, he can create tools that handle some of those repetitive steps for him.
My experience has been less about automating an existing job and more about attempting projects I never had the skills to build alone. When I needed a reservation system for my Saturday English program, ChatGPT helped me create code that automatically closes a Google Form after all six spaces have been filled.
It also helped me move the podcast website away from a paid platform and rebuild it on Blogger. I still had to test every change, explain what looked wrong, and undo plenty of bad suggestions. Even so, I was able to customize a free platform instead of continuing to pay for a service the podcast could not yet support.
Using AI to Get Through Japanese
Translation may be the biggest benefit AI has brought to our lives in Japan. Japanese tax, insurance, hospital, and government websites can be difficult even when you understand the general purpose of the page. A single unfamiliar term can leave you unsure about what the form is asking or whether you are entering the right information.
Devin described using AI to work through those processes one screen at a time. I did something similar while renewing my residence card online. I could take a screenshot, explain where I was in the process, and ask what each section meant or what I was supposed to enter.
AI also helps me prepare Japanese writing for my English business. My wife still checks the final result, but she usually only needs to correct an unnatural word or small detail. That gives me more independence while still keeping a Japanese speaker involved when accuracy matters.
Knowing When the Answer Is Wrong
The more we use AI, the clearer it becomes that the person using it still needs some understanding of the task. While editing my website, I initially described a problem without knowing the correct technical term. AI made a change that technically solved the issue, but the page looked worse. Once I learned that I needed to talk about the padding, I could explain the problem properly and get the result I wanted.
I compared AI to an intern who can complete a large part of a task but still needs supervision. It can produce polished writing or a confident translation while quietly misunderstanding something important.
That becomes especially serious with specialized information. I previously worked on medical translations where AI sometimes translated two different conditions as the same English term. The sentences looked natural, but the terminology could still be dangerously wrong.
Finding the Right Balance
AI can save hours when the task is clear and the person using it knows what a good result should look like. It can also send you down a long rabbit hole when you do not know exactly what you want.
That may be one reason people have not been replaced as quickly as some companies expected. Devin has actively tried to automate more of his own job, yet recreating all of the context and judgment behind his work can still cost more than paying a person to do it.
For now, AI has made us more capable and more independent as foreigners living in Japan. It has helped us get through Japanese systems, build things outside our normal skill sets, and save money on services we might otherwise need. Whether it has actually made our lives easier—or simply allowed us to take on more work—is a different question.
Has AI helped you make a living, become more independent, or simply get more done where you live? Feel free to share your experience in the comments.