  Without any doubt, Machine Learning (ML) will be an important driver of
future communications due to its foreseen performance when applied to complex
problems. However, the application of ML to networking systems raises concerns
among network operators and other stakeholders, especially regarding
trustworthiness and reliability. In this paper, we devise the role of network
simulators for bridging the gap between ML and communications systems. In
particular, we present an architectural integration of simulators in ML-aware
networks for training, testing, and validating ML models before being applied
to the operative network. Moreover, we provide insights on the main challenges
resulting from this integration, and then give hints discussing how they can be
overcome. Finally, we illustrate the integration of network simulators into
ML-assisted communications through a proof-of-concept testbed implementation of
a residential Wi-Fi network.
