Why simulate real-world systems?

Who are these posts for?

These posts are aimed at programmers and non-technical readers wanting to learn the fundamentals of simulating real-world systems.

Together, we will explore the power of stochastic phenomena and probabilistic thinking without the need for mathematical symbols.

Those eager to follow along with code should also check out the stochadex project, which was designed with these fundamentals in mind.

What can you do with these simulations?

One of the most compelling uses for simulations of real-world systems is in powering decision-making technologies.

If you want to answer questions like ‘if I take this action, then what will happen in my system?’, then it is often essential to build a simulation of your system and use this to simulate what might happen in the future.

Advantages to using real-world simulations

With simulations of the real-world, in contrast to other predictive AI approaches, you can also interrogate the internal state of the system to help validate the assumptions used in making a decision.

This can be a real advantage for decision-making technologies, since human users usually need to justify their decisions through structured reasoning.