Jenna Ortega Reveals 'Terrifying' AI Edits Drove Her off Social Media
Jenna Ortega is shedding light on the "terrifying," "uncomfortable," and frankly, alarming interactions she had with supposed fans that led her to leave X (formerly Twitter) when she was just a teenager.
The Beetlejuice Beetlejuice star, 21, opened up in a new interview with the New York Times about the onslaught of inappropriate content she faced when she first joined the platform nearly a decade ago, stumbling upon AI edits of herself in sexually explicit scenarios and receiving unsolicited photos of unclothed men in her DMs.
As a result, the actress understandably said, "I hate AI." She admitted that the technology "could be used for incredible things," recalling a "beautiful" story she saw recently about how "artificial intelligence was able to detect breast cancer four years before it progressed."
"Let’s keep it to that," she said, instead of the "terrifying," "corrupt," and "wrong," "dirty edited content" she saw of herself "as a child."
Her interviewer, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, was shocked to learn of the content she was subjected to at the time, clarifying, "You saw AI-generated images of you as a child? Like pornographic ones?"
"Yes, of course," she replied, detailing another disturbing instant with the first DM she ever opened herself at 12 years old. "[It] was an unsolicited photo of a man’s genitals, and that was just the beginning of what was to come," she said. At the time, she'd been pressured into using the platform to "build [her] image," but "ended up deleting it about two, three years ago because the influx...[of] absurd images and photos" was too much.
"It was disgusting, and it made me feel bad. It made me feel uncomfortable," she added. "So one day I just woke up, and I thought, 'Oh, I don’t need this anymore.' So I dropped it."
Ortega is far from the only person victimized by this type of behavior, yet there is little protection regarding explicit AI-generated content.
Taylor Swift fell victim to a rash of fake, inappropriate images earlier this year, resulting in X temporarily restricting searches for her name. At the time, there were no federal protections for instances such as this, and only 10 states had laws in place to address AI-created images, also known as "deepfakes."
Since then, the No AI FRAUD Act, which would give people the right to control the use of their own identifying characteristics, has been introduced for consideration, but it has yet to move forward.
Next: Michael Keaton Makes Bold Statement About ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Co-Star Jenna Ortega
