---
url: https://www.adoptionlab.ai/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/offer-amnesty/
title: "Offer amnesty for hidden use | Explore | AdoptionLab.AI"
description: "Explore, phase 1 of the 5E Model for human-centered AI adoption. Treat quiet AI use as early pilots, not policy violations."
generated: 2026-10-22T16:29:41.192Z
---[AI Adoption Roadmap](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap) / [1. Explore](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap#explore)
Phase 1: Explore
# Offer amnesty for hidden use
Treat quiet AI use as early pilots, not policy violations.
Many employees already use AI and keep it to themselves. Punishing them teaches everyone to hide and can set off an "AI winter." Instead, thank people for trying to work better, then show safer ways to do it.
Amnesty covers the person, not the incident. No one is disciplined for experimenting. But if sensitive data left your systems, route it to whoever owns privacy so it gets documented and handled.
[← Run a baseline assessment](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/run-a-baseline) [Write a two-part AI policy →](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/write-a-two-part-policy)
More in Explore
- [Be the sense-maker](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/be-the-sense-maker)
- [Make a pledge you can keep](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/make-a-pledge)
- [Run a baseline assessment](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/run-a-baseline)
- [Offer amnesty for hidden use](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/offer-amnesty)
- [Write a two-part AI policy](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/write-a-two-part-policy)
- [Sort your data with a stoplight](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/data-stoplight)
- [Engage the middle layer](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/engage-the-middle-layer)
- [Map what helps and what hinders](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/force-field-analysis)
- [Lead with invitation, not obligation](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/lead-with-invitation)
- [Give everyone basic training](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap/explore/basic-training)
[See all five phases →](/resources/ai-adoption-roadmap)
Go deeper in the booklet
A Leader's Roadmap to Human-Centered AI
The Explore chapter walks through this phase with a worked example, plus the field kit: survey, rubrics, and worksheets.
[Get the booklet on Amazon →](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXGN86YZ)