It Is a Man, Not Technology
Before identifying the image, Scripture must define what an "image" is. The answer is in Colossians.
"Who is the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn of every creature." Colossians 1:15
Yahusha is the IMAGE of the invisible Yahuah. The pattern is clear. The image makes the invisible visible. Yahuah is spirit. Yahusha made Him visible to mankind in the flesh.
The beast is an invisible spiritual system. The image is the visible man who represents it.
Applying the Colossians 1:15 pattern to Revelation 13, the image of the beast is the man who makes the invisible beast system visible. Every detail in Scripture confirms this identification.
"Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called Elohim, or that is worshipped; so that he as Elohim sitteth in the temple of Elohim, shewing himself that he is Elohim." 2 Thessalonians 2:4
"And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live." Revelation 13:14
The earth beast (Byzantium + the Church, the two horns like a lamb) told the people to create the papal office. This was not an accident of history. The institution gave it life through Justinian's decree in 538 AD.
The Pope became the visible image of Roman authority. The Roman imago (the image of the emperor that received homage throughout the empire) was recreated in religious form. Where emperors once demanded loyalty through their image, the Pope now demanded it through his office.
Yahusha is the image of the invisible Yahuah.
He pointed all glory BACK to the Father. "My Father is greater than I." (John 14:28)
The Pope is the image of the invisible beast system.
He points all authority to HIMSELF. "Holy Father." "Vicar of Christ." "Infallible."
Many today speculate that artificial intelligence, robots, or some future technology is the "image of the beast." This is not supported by Scripture. Consider:
The futurist impulse to search for the image in technology comes from the same Jesuit counter-Reformation strategy that moved the Antichrist from the current Pope to some future figure. If the image is "future AI," then it is not the Pope. That is exactly what Rome wants you to believe.
"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Revelation 13:15
"And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." Revelation 13:12
"Who is the image of the invisible Elohim, the firstborn of every creature." Colossians 1:15
"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." Matthew 23:9
The beast system has been sitting in Rome for 1,500 years. The image is not hidden. It is not future. It is not technology. It is the man who sits in the seat of authority, calling himself "Holy Father," demanding the allegiance that belongs to Yahuah alone.
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
Revelation 18:4