‘It’s wrong. It’s disgusting’: Jenna Ortega says world must ‘deal with the consequences’ of AI; reveals ‘terrifying’ incidents

Jenna Ortega, best known for her appearance on Wednesday, spoke about her disturbing experiences with the darker aspects of the internet in a recent edition of The New York Times podcast The Interview. She focused on social media and artificial intelligence (AI). Ortega spoke about how AI has damaged her life and expressed her extreme hatred for it.

She recounted a traumatic event that occurred when she was 14, and said she was encouraged to sign up for Twitter. But this choice left her in a disturbing situation where she found herself transformed, seeing sexual images of herself as a young girl floating around the internet. Ortega highlighted the serious effects such digital abuse can have on young people, calling the situation “terrifying” and “corrupt.”

Her comments shed light on the larger issue of internet exploitation and the ethical challenges that digital technologies face. Ortega underscored that once these destructive tools and content are publicly available, they are difficult to manage or undo.

She described the current state of the internet as opening “Pandora’s box” and society is now dealing with the consequences. Despite the efforts of social media networks to combat offensive content, Ortega’s case highlights the ongoing battle to ensure online safety and privacy.

According to Ortega, artificial intelligence (AI) has enormous potential, especially for the medical sector. She called the use of AI in the early diagnosis of breast cancer a “beautiful” achievement that showed how technology can improve people’s lives. She was impressed by this talent.

However, Ortega was concerned about the potential for AI to be misused, stressing that AI should be based on good intentions to maximize benefits and minimize dangers.

Ortega’s struggles with social media and withdrawal

Ortega also discussed her difficult experiences with social media, including her decision to delete her X (formerly Twitter) account. She described a disturbing incident when she was just 12 years old, claiming that her first direct message on the app was an unsolicited sexual photo from a man.

This unpleasant interaction was just the beginning of a disturbing pattern that saw Ortega receive multiple inappropriate and disgusting images, especially after her appearance on the popular series Wednesday thrust her even further into the spotlight.

The influx of such explicit content overwhelmed Ortega, leading her to delete her account two or three years ago. Despite suggestions that keeping the account would improve her image, Ortega believed the negative experiences outweighed any potential benefits.

The speaker described her experiences with social media and civic participation, and elaborated on how her attempts to express her opinion on politics, personal issues or professional causes often met with resistance.

She was deeply disturbed and felt uncomfortable and discouraged by the negative reactions she was receiving. She began to feel really unhappy as a result of the negative effects of the constant negativity on her mental health.

She realized the negative impact these interactions were having on her life and decided to make a significant change. One day, she realized that it was no longer worth the emotional cost of continuing to use these toxic platforms. This revelation prompted her to withdraw from social media and instead focus on her mental health and avoid the stressful environment she was in.

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