they can and quite possibly will make it run worse. The cars timing and fuel maps are designed for a particular spark plug heat range, which changes when you switch to platinum or iridium.

The factory plugs ignite in a way that the car it tuned for. with the wrong material plug they won't fire absolutely correctly.

I have seen more than one vehicle throw a check engine light just from platinum plugs, causing the engine to behave incorrectly and giving a misfire code