Answer
A founder of OpenAI—the company behind ChatGPT—has developed a program designed to register users with a global digital identifier. World ID is meant to give every person his or her own unique digital identity that distinguishes individuals from each other and from AI. It purports to do this by scanning the user’s iris on a biometric verification device called the Orb and developing a numerical code based on the eye’s image. The image file of the iris can be deleted, and only the code will remain. The iris scan is required to make an account with World ID, but it is not connected digitally to any personal information. It is designed to ensure people can only create a single account; once scanned, a person’s eyes cannot be used to create another ID. The user chooses whether the image of their iris is deleted or stored and used for research.
World ID is connected to Worldcoin, a digital currency. Everyone who registers for a World ID through the Orb will receive one Worldcoin token based on Ethereum. Users can create an account and trade in Worldcoin without scanning their irises, but they will not receive a free token or receive a World ID. In addition to giving a free token now, World ID will attempt to make the global digital economy more equitable for all users around the world. How they would do this is unknown other than ensuring people cannot have more than one World ID.
Is World ID the mark of the beast?
No, World ID is not the prophesied mark of the beast, and Worldcoin is not the prophesied global currency. The mark of the beast cannot exist until the Antichrist is revealed. The mark is specifically an indication that the person worships the beast, and that will not happen until the second half of the tribulation (see Revelation 13). The mark of the beast cannot exist yet because the beast has not acceded to power yet.
Will this technology contribute to the development of the mark of the beast?
Possibly. It is reasonable to speculate that the mark of the beast will include some kind of unique identifier. However, it will also include a mark: something that is added to the human body on the forehead or right hand (Revelation 13:16–17). It is not merely something about the body that is recorded.
Should Christians avoid World ID and Worldcoin to delay the development of the mark of the beast?
The Bible clearly explains that the timing of the return of Jesus is determined by the will of God the Father alone (Acts 1:6–7). We cannot know, delay, or hasten Jesus’ coming. Christians do not have to avoid using the World ID or Worldcoin for spiritual purposes. It is not a sin to use, develop, or promote technology that may eventually be used by the Antichrist.
Should Christians use World ID and Worldcoin?
That is a matter of discernment. Despite developers’ best intentions, digital information is always vulnerable. As of this writing, it appears the iris scans used to train the system have not been deleted, and the methods used to acquire them were not entirely ethical. The Bible says nothing specific about a global identifier or digital currency. On the other hand, anyone who has taken a DNA heritage test has already made biometric data available to a corporation and theoretically vulnerable to digital theft.
