“Ambition and ethics collide, leaving every character to choose between conscience and corporate gain.”
The rise of Artificial Intelligence is seen by some as a huge opportunity, and by others as a huge threat to civilisation. Those against it fear a version of the Terminator franchise, where computers gain dominance over humanity. Regardless of which side of the debate viewers are on, watching Ammo, a Norwegian TV series now streaming on Walter Presents, will give cause for concern.
The series doesn’t just ask whether AI can make moral decisions – Ammo forces us to confront the uncomfortable reality that those decisions may already be happening.
In war-torn Mali, the French military are determined to overcome rebel guerrillas hidden among caves and desert. A demonstration of a new prototype drone, developed by Norwegian tech superpower and weapons developer AGR, gives them hope of a new solution. There is just one problem: the French want to ignore the international ban on using AI-powered weapons without human intervention.
It is a concern shared by Mette, the matriarch behind the family-run AGR organisation, though her family has less scrupulous motives, eyeing instead the multi-million-kroner deals that would follow deployment. What they need is a frontman for the organisation, someone able to get the deal across the line with the French military and then onwards to the rest of the world.
In steps Bjørn Urdal, currently trying to make ends meet as a supply teacher after losing his previous high-profile job following a corruption scandal. Urdal experiences a meteoric rise to power, being promoted to head of AGR’s development branch on his first day with the organisation, despite having no previous experience.
He soon finds out that he has signed a contract with an unscrupulous boss who sees morals as an expendable optional extra. When the French military remove a safety clause from their contract, giving the AI technology free rein without human intervention, Urdal has serious concerns. His employer, however, tells him a computer is safer than a soldier who may be emotional, tired, or simply sadistic.
When a test drone, deployed without the human safety backup in place, shoots and kills a group of Malian children playing football, Urdal faces a moral conundrum – does his loyalty lie with a company willing to hide this atrocity, or should he report the case to officials? The chilling aftermath of the drone strike is not just a plot device, but a mirror held up to our own debates about technology and responsibility.
First aired in Norway in 2022 and now showing in the UK via Walter Presents, Ammo proves chillingly pertinent to our time. As drone use in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East continues, the debate is already raging over the ethics of such weapons and the risk if the algorithm gets it wrong. Can a computer make moral decisions on behalf of mankind? Ambition and ethics collide, leaving every character to choose between conscience and corporate gain.
The dilemma, seen through the lens of Urdal, is complex, and the character of Urdal is equally so. Fêted and head-hunted as a business guru, yet burdened by a chequered past, is he some sort of development genius who became a scapegoat for corporate misdemeanours, or is he a man out of his depth, struggling to find his way in a world where technology has moved beyond him?
Nicolai Cleve Broch, as both series creator and lead actor, does not answer that key question. Broch’s portrayal of Urdal never shows us the charismatic leader we might expect from a man used to working with leaders of commerce and industry. That could be because his corruption conviction has destroyed his confidence, but it creates a slight disconnect and suspension of disbelief when we are asked to accept Urdal as someone capable of leading multi-million-kroner deals.
Broch’s portrayal of Urdal remains fascinating, though: his slow realisation that this dream job, with its impressive salary and promise of giving his family the home of their dreams, is actually the role of sacrificial lamb. Broch’s study of Urdal’s slow descent into despair is subtly played – a nervous hand twitch here, a reliance on his out-of-place satchel as a comfort blanket, a nervous compulsion to gulp down water that tells of a man on the edge. As Urdal’s journey unfolds, the show reminds us that power can be as isolating as it is intoxicating.
The family dynamics at AGR are as ruthless as any battlefield, proving that the real conflict often lies within. Ole, the patriarch and CEO, is played with ruthless coldness by Bjørn Floberg, unafraid to throw his own family under the bus for corporate gain. For his children, Madeleine and Marius, played by Mariann Hole and André Sørum, there is a choice between ethical behaviour and a willingness to turn a blind eye.
Hole gives Madeleine a deceptive weakness, her respectful half-step behind submissiveness belying an inner ruthlessness. Sørum, on the other hand, plays Marius with cold detachment, showing no hesitation in jettisoning those nearest to him for the corporate good.
Broch, together with co-writer Ole Marius Araldsen, has created a fascinating conundrum for our time, but there is something sluggish about the delivery. Switching between Norway and Mali may add the high-adrenaline stakes needed for a military operation, but the diversion into hostage kidnapping and retribution is not entirely cohesive. The same can be said of Urdal’s own journey: we never really understand what drove the corruption charge – greed, stupidity, or yet another scapegoating. While the series attempts to add three-dimensional depth through a subplot about his son’s school difficulties, with the role played by Broch’s own son, Jørgen Cleve Broch, we never fully understand the drivers of this pivotal character.
Ammo refuses easy answers, instead offering a slow-burn descent into the ethical grey zones of modern warfare.
That being said, Ammo is a production for our time. While governments debate the ethics of AI in warfare, the series leaves us with a question that lingers long after the credits: just because we can, should we?
Cast: Nicolai Cleve Broch, Bjørn Floberg, Mariann Hole, André Sørum
Creators: Nicolai Cleve Broch, Ole Marius Araldsen
Platform: Walter Presents (UK) | Channel 4
Walter Presents Ammo is out now on Channel 4 in the UK
