REPORTAGE

Form AI to chickens

An AI-connected chicken farm is about to see the light of day in Skråmträsk. No wonder entrepreneur Peder Fjällström is living his new country life. We visited the village to find out what happened when the AI expert moved from Stockholm in search of the perfect life balance.

Peder and his wife Anna currently live at Åfällan, a family farm dating back to the early 1900s. Here in Västra Skråmträsk they live with their two teenage children, Alvar and Emmet, as well as Taco the pug, Beppe the corgi, Knubbis the cat and a bunch of horses, rabbits and chickens. The large farm is surrounded by farmland that is cultivated in the summer and several hundred-year-old, stately pine trees almost form a roof over the plot. This is also where the village's gravel road splits between the house and the barn.

- After 24 years in Stockholm, it felt like a natural step to move home and live closer to nature. In the city, it was an eternal run around the block with the dog that already hated the first lap. Here we can just let the dogs out, and it's the same with the horses - the stable is right outside the door and not a mile away, says Peder.

The decision to leave Stockholm was a process that went on for some time. With the world situation and the fluctuations in the housing market in the back of his mind, thoughts of a quieter life began to germinate. When the opportunity to take over the family farm arose, the pieces fell into place. But it was not entirely obvious.

- None of Anna's siblings wanted to take over the farm, not even us. But within three months we had sold the house in Rönninge and moved upstairs. It's always a challenge to move to your childhood home, as it was for her, but if you like big projects on a farm, this is the ultimate accommodation and we both find it hard to sit still. There is always something to do here, demolish an attic, put up a barn floor or neck a rooster - you just have to choose," says Peder.

Adapting to life in a small town was quick, but still an adjustment for Peder, who spent his first 20 years in Skellefteå before the big city called. He was one of the many who migrated from the city to another city in the 90s.

- Now it's exactly the opposite and it's so strange because the feeling was that Skellefteå was the most night-black place I could imagine back then. You kind of had to pay to get rid of the condominium.

Today, he notes that much has changed.

- "When you work with the rest of the world, as we do in my company, it's only in Skellefteå that there is great confidence. It also feels very easy to get things done. A lot of things are so close - whether it's business or the public sector. It's easy to come up with things, and there's a confidence in the future that I never experienced before, that anything is possible.

And village life in Skråmträsk has its charm, something Peder quickly discovered.

- "There's a different 'we' here, with village associations and a strong community that was something new to me. At the same time, I love the silence - no Essingeled buzzing in the background, and when it gets dark, well, then it's really dark. It is magical.

Like many other returnees, they suddenly have a lot of time to spare.

- Here we don't sit in a traffic jam or get stuck on a commuter train that is standing still in Tullinge. It's a couple of hours of free time that you suddenly have.

How do you use that time in Skråmträsk?

- Like this, among other things... we cuddle our cats, says Peder, stroking one of the cats that has jumped up on the dining table. But we have more time for each other, I feel that our children have landed well, there is a calm that we did not have before. We can hang out on the couch or in the kitchen because we have time to do so, we're not on the road all the time," he says.

Here we don't sit in a traffic jam or get stuck on a commuter train

Peder and Anna have continued to combine their professional careers with their new life in Skråmträsk. Anna has always worked from home as a freelancer, while Peder has continued to work for companies all over the world - from the calm environment of the farm and now also from an attic office on Storgatan in Skellefteå. In Stockholm, he ran the web agency Earth People, among other things. With global clients such as Ikea, Coca-Cola, Disney and Spotify, it's safe to say that Skråmträsk is now playing on the international stage. In fact, the move and the start of the agency Try New Things has been a personal career boost.

- "I would really say it has been good for my creativity. I feel fearless because there is not much to be afraid of here. There is less pressure on us, not least financially. In Stockholm, we played life on the hardest level, but here it feels easier. It's reflected in the life choices we make and I feel fearless in my work and dare to suggest things to our clients that I couldn't do in Stockholm. There I had to play it more safe - here I can be a bit more unexpected and authentic," he says.

With a background in web development and data science, Peder has been using AI services and building machine learning for over a decade. But he no longer considers himself an "AI expert" in the traditional sense.

- "A couple of years ago I would probably have called myself an AI expert, but today I see it more as an obvious tool. It's about understanding where the boundaries are and how you can use AI to explore and experiment," he says.

While embracing the technology, he wants to maintain the balance between the digital and analog.

- "I think AI is a great toolbox to dig into. But at the same time, I think the future lies in the human, in the tactile. If everything that happens on a computer screen becomes a self-playing piano, how interesting will that be? I think the real experience is in things like touching the earth, feeling things, being in the moment. That's where I think we humans will find our value," says Peder.

And yes, he has already started experimenting with the idea of using technology on the farm, from sensors that monitor the animals to ideas about creating a communication platform for the hens.

- If I can set up sensors that allow my hens to talk to each other in words and pictures, I will do it. It's fun!

Text: Daniel Bergeman

Photo: Jonas Westling