By using its image recognition and translation features, he scanned the remote and received clear explanations for each button (Image source: @msg/X)An American tourist’s 4 am struggle with a Japanese air conditioner has gone viral, highlighting a clever new use for Google’s multimodal AI.Michael S Galpert found himself uncomfortably warm in the middle of the night during a hotel stay in Japan. After several failed attempts to adjust the temperature, he realised the obstacle was not the machine but the language: the remote was entirely labelled in Japanese Kanji.He turned to Google’s experimental AI tool Nano Banana. By using its image recognition and translation features, he scanned the remote and received clear explanations for each button. The tool identified settings for temperature control, fan speed, operating modes, and timers, allowing him to fix the issue and return to sleep.“Was woken up at 4am bc it was too hot in the hotel room. Nano Banana gods saved the day. prompt: ‘create an image in English,” Galpert wrote on X, while sharing the images of the remote.See the post here: Was woken up at 4am bc it was too hot in the hotel room. Nano Banana gods saved the day.prompt: “create an image in English” pic.twitter.com/9w6CZWGUw9— michael s galpert (@msg) March 27, 2026Also Read | Engineer rejects AI-written email, sparks debate on professional use of technologyThe post has since gone viral, with many users finding humour in the situation while also highlighting the real-world usefulness of AI for tourists. “This is very low-level use case. Here is what truly useful. When you need to buy f.e. shampoo or detergent and you don’t know which one is suitable for you and there are dozens of them on the shelf. Instead of going through them one by one you just photo whole shelf and ask AI,” a user wrote.“pretty cool, i’ll keep that prompt in mind for next time when I can’t figure out that the arrow down button lowers the temperature,” another user commented. “Just a reminder that Google Lens comes with a real-time translation feature that can be a lifesaver,” a third user reacted.Nano Banana, formally called Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, is an AI-driven tool developed by Google for image creation and editing. © IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:artificial intelligence