I think this is a special case of the problem that it's usually easier for an AI to change itself (values, goals, definitions) than for it to change the external world to match a desired outcome. There's an incentive to develop algorithms that edit the utility function (or variables storing the results of previous calculations, etc) to redefine or replace tasks in a way that makes them easier or unnecessary. This kind of ability is necessary, but in the extreme the AI will stop responding to instructions entirely because the goal of minimizing resource usage led it to develop the equivalent of an "ignore those instructions" function.