What is "wasteful" about HFT and how would it be reduced with smaller tick sizes? It seems like there would need to be considerably more order activity with sm

What is "wasteful" about HFT and how would it be reduced with smaller tick sizes? It seems like there would need to be considerably more order activity with smaller tick sizes. I understand the intuition that the ability to compete more on price should reduce the need to compete on speed, but surely it's more complicated than that. Would love to see some research if it exists.