Smudges are off-putting... but, there are times when it would be very convenient to be able to scroll or click on a touchscreen. There are times when presenting when a touchscreen would be preferred over a mouse or touchpad. It's not often, but they are nice to have.
And, in regards to smudges, I mean, just don't use the touchscreen unless you have to and problem avoided.
Antiglare can be a thing but that can be avoided by avoiding string lighting behind you.
There's still the issue of accidentally triggering things (when e.g. adjusting the screen) and sometimes you don't have control of your surrounding lighting. I'd still prefer touch to be entirely optional.
It's convenient, and it also makes usage of a stylus far easier.
FWIW, I often rotate my Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro 360 so that the screen is in portrait mode, then hold the laptop as if it's a book and use a stylus and touch on the display with my right hand, and operate the keyboard for modifiers/shortcuts with my left, or open it flat on a lapdesk.
I don't understand the appeal, even a little bit. Reaching up to touch the screen is awkward, and every large touchpanel I've used has had to trade off antiglare coating effectiveness to accomodate oleophobic coating. For me, this would be an objective downgrade — the touch capability would never get used, but poor antiglare would be a constant thorn in my side. I can only hope that it's an option and not mandatory, and I may upgrade once the M5 generation releases (which is supposedly just a spec bump) as insurance.