AceShowbiz - Jenna Ortega, the star of Netflix's hit series "Wednesday," is peeling back the layers to reveal the dark underbelly of the internet. In a candid conversation on the latest episode of "The Interview" podcast with The New York Times, released on August 24, the 21-year-old actress delved into the horrifying reality of her experiences with AI and social media.

With painful honesty, Ortega recounted the profound negative impacts these technologies have had on her personal life and career.

"I hate AI," Ortega confessed on the podcast. "... Did I like being 14 [years old] 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."

For Ortega, the pervasive dark side of AI is undeniable and deeply troubling. She continued passionately, "It's wrong... Here's the problem, though. We've opened Pandora's box. Well, it is what it is. It's out there now. We're gonna have to deal with the consequences."

While acknowledging the dangers, Ortega also admitted that AI has potential for incredible good, such as in medical advancements like detecting breast cancer early. "That's beautiful … Let's keep it to that," she stated, but added a worryingly realistic note, "I would like [AI] to be used with good intent, but we could say that about anything and everything."

Ortega didn't stop at AI; she also shared her disturbing experiences with social media, which culminated in her decision to delete her X (formerly Twitter) account.

"One of the first actually, the first DM 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," she revealed. The avalanche of explicit images and negative content only intensified after the release of "Wednesday" on Netflix.

"I ended up deleting about two, three years ago because the influx, after [Wednesday] had come out, of these absurd images and photos," Ortega explained. The images' repulsiveness and the negativity drove her decision. "They're just so repulsive, and I already was in a confused state that I just deleted it because it was unnecessary, and I didn't need that."

Despite warnings that she needed the account to "build" her "image," Ortega's experiences proved otherwise. "I would make political statements or, just personal ones or just talk about excitement for jobs, and then I was greeted with this stuff. And it was just disgusting, and it made me feel bad. It made me feel uncomfortable," she said.

Reflecting on her journey to safeguard her mental health and well-being, Ortega concluded, "It's awful... So one day, I just woke up and I thought, 'Oh, I don't need this anymore.' So I dropped it." When questioned if she was still learning to protect herself, she concurred, "I'm still learning."

As young people navigate the complex landscape of AI and social media, Ortega's experiences are a powerful reminder of the potential pitfalls and the importance of self-care and boundaries.