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Bingham, 39, won his first world title in 2015 after beating Shaun Murphy, who comes up against Anthony McGill.
Five-time champion Ronnie O'Sullivan faces Dave Gilbert, world number one Mark Selby plays Robert Milkins and Judd Trump meets Liang Wenbo.
Bingham begins his campaign at 10:00 BST on Saturday, playing to a conclusion from 19:00 on the same day.
World number two Bingham, who won a shock maiden world title last year despite being a 50-1 outsider at the start of the tournament, drew one of the most difficult qualifiers in Carter.
O'Sullivan and Selby will be confident of progressing after gaining favourable draws, but in-form Trump, who won the China Open earlier this month, faces a significant test in 2015 UK Championship runner-up Liang.
"The very first match that came out, Trump against Liang, what a first round that is," said World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn. "That will be sensational and my pick for the first round."
All eyes were on China's number one player Ding Junhui, who had to qualify after slipping out of the top 16, and he comes up against Englishman Martin Gould.
Other standout ties see Northern Irishman Mark Allen come up against world number 74 Mitchell Mann, the only debutant this year, and an all-Scottish clash between Stephen Maguire and Alan McManus.
"Just because he is number 32 seed, it still won't be easy," said Allen. "I won the Players Championship, the last tournament I played in, but it is different pressure here. The place brings back special memories and there is so much history here."
This year's tournament sees 28 of the top 32 players in the world in action, with every champion from this century looking to win the title again.
Full draw
Stuart Bingham v Ali Carter
Stephen Maguire v Alan McManus
Ricky Walden v Robbie Williams
John Higgins v Ryan Day
Judd Trump v Liang Wenbo
Martin Gould v Ding Junhui
Mark Williams v Graeme Dott
Neil Robertson v Michael Holt
Shaun Murphy v Anthony McGill
Marco Fu v Peter Ebdon
Barry Hawkins v Zhang Anda
Ronnie O'Sullivan v David Gilbert
Mark Allen v Mitchell Mann
Joe Perry v Kyren Wilson
Michael White v Sam Baird
Mark Selby v Robert Milkins

The Oxford Temple and Community Centre Project wants a place of worship for the 10,000 Hindus in the county.
Volunteers are now appealing to Hindu families to provide regular donations in order to be accepted for a mortgage.
Chairman Gyan Gopal said: "Of all the major faiths of the world, Hinduism is the only one not to have a place for communal worship in Oxfordshire."
The project has raised £110,000 in six years and aims to raise £500,000, but volunteers are now exploring the option of using their raised funds towards a mortgage on a property.
Currently 15 families are contributing every month but the project needs more families to make regular payments rather than one-off donations.
Mr Gopal said: "To acquire a mortgage we need to show the financial institutions that we have a regular income coming in in standing orders to meet the interest payments."
Applications for funding from Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council have been unsuccessful.
The project organises the annual Oxford Mela which raised £4,500 last year.
Mr Gopal said the ideal location would be an industrial estate.
"Our events usually happen in the evenings and on weekends so we don't want to disturb anyone," he said.
Another option is to buy land and start with a "prefab hut".
Mr Gopal said: "The biggest cathedrals started off like that".
Defending champion Stuart Bingham faces two-time runner-up Ali Carter in the first round of the World Championship.
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Campaigners for a first Hindu temple in Oxfordshire have made a fresh appeal for funds.