Philosophical Transactions A · 2026

Simulations in statistical workflows

Paul-Christian Bürkner, Marvin Schmitt, Stefan T. Radev

Simulations play important and diverse roles in statistical workflows, for example, in model specification, checking, validation, and inference. Over the past decades, the application areas and overall potential of simulations in statistical workflows have expanded significantly, driven by the development of new AI-assisted methods and exponentially increasing computational resources. In this paper, we examine past and current trends in the field and offer perspectives on how simulations may shape the future of statistical practice.

simulation
simulation-based inference
Bayesian inference
Bayesian workflow
amortized inference