Jenna Ortega FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Jenna Ortega’s dislike of artificial intelligence stems from being sent “repulsive” explicit doctored photos of herself as a child star.
“I hate A.I. I mean, here’s the thing: A.I. could be used for incredible things,” Ortega, 21, told The New York Times in an interview published on Saturday, August 24. “I think I saw something the other day where they were saying that artificial intelligence was able to detect breast cancer four years before it progressed. That’s beautiful. Let’s keep it to that.”
However, there is also a dark side to the technology. She added, “Did I like being 14 and making a Twitter account because I was supposed to and seeing dirty, edited content of me as a child? No. It’s terrifying. It’s corrupt. It’s wrong. It’s disgusting.”
Ortega rose to fame with roles on the likes of Jane the Virgin and Disney Channel’s Stuck in the Middle when she was a preteen. Around the same time, she received her first-ever DM.
One to watch! Jenna Ortega is a name you should know. After beginning her career as a child star with roles on Jane the Virgin and Disney’s Stuck in the Middle, Ortega has expanded her portfolio with big hits, including You, The Fallout, Yes Day, Scream VI and Wednesday, which premiered on Netflix in November […]
“The first [direct message] that I ever opened myself when I was 12 was an unsolicited photo of a man’s genitals, and that was just the beginning of what was to come,” Ortega told the newspaper. “I used to have [a] Twitter account and I was told that, ‘Oh, you got to do it, you got to build your image.’”
According to Ortega, she would use her social media pages to make political or personal statements that soon spawned NSFW messages and images in response. Receiving unsolicited photos and doctored images would, and continue to, make Ortega “feel bad.”
“It made me feel uncomfortable,” she recalled. “Anyway, that’s why I deleted [my account] because I couldn’t say anything without seeing something like that. So one day I just woke up, and I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t need this anymore. So I dropped it.’”
Ortega noted that she eventually deleted her account “about two, three years ago.”
Many actors who have found award-winning success were originally connected to a Disney Channel role. Nicholas Braun appeared in the original movie Princess Protection Program in 2009 before snagging a role in HBO’s Succession. Braun revealed that his experience on Disney Channel was hard to handle at the time. “The opportunities to be the lead […]
“The influx after the show had come out,” she said, referring to Netflix hit Wednesday, noting she received more doctored images based on her character. “I already was in a confused state that I just deleted it.”
Ortega subsequently said she’s “learning” to protect herself, whether that’s taking time to avoid her phone or giving herself the space to acknowledge her feelings.
“I’m 21, so I can’t be expected to be a philosopher or some almighty thing because, yeah, I’m a 21-year-old kid and I think that’s probably important to remember,” she said, detailing the pressures of living in a public forum. “It feels scary regardless. … It’s a time where you can’t appreciate where you’re at now [when] you’re learning to pay bills for the first time, dealing with taxes [and] being expected to be an adult. [You can’t] not be scared s—tless. That’s just a given.”
